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Netanyahu makes a case for a preemptive strike
Times of Israel ^ | October 15, 2013, 5:16 pm | Haviv Rettig Gur

Posted on 10/16/2013 8:11:10 AM PDT by Dave346

In Yom Kippur War anniversary speech, prime minister suggests that inaction on Iran is costlier than international opprobrium

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered a thinly veiled defense of a possible Israeli preemptive strike on Iran during a Knesset commemoration Tuesday of the 40th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War.

In a speech to MKs about the war, in which Israel was surprised by a coordinated Arab invasion on the northern and southern fronts, Netanyahu explained that IDF soldiers who fought in the bitter battles of that war “saved us from paying the price of complacency.”

“In the end we won a great victory, but the lessons of the war have stayed with us these 40 years,” Netanyahu said.

“The first lesson is to never underestimate a threat, never underestimate an enemy, never ignore the signs of danger. We can’t assume the enemy will act in ways that are convenient for us. The enemy can surprise us. Israel will not fall asleep on its watch again,” he vowed.

The second lesson, he added, was that “we can’t surrender the option of a preventive strike. It is not necessary in every situation, and it must be weighed carefully and seriously. But there are situations in which paying heed to the international price of such a step is outweighed by the price in blood we will pay if we absorb a strategic strike that will demand a response later on, and perhaps too late.”

Netanyahu added: “A preventive war, even a preventive strike, is among the most difficult decisions a government can take, because it will never be able to prove what would have happened if it had not acted. But the key difference between the [1967] Six Day War and the [1973] Yom Kippur War lies first of all in the fact that in the Six Day War we launched a preventive strike that broke the chokehold our enemies had placed on us, and on Yom Kippur the government decided, despite all warnings, to absorb the full force of an enemy attack.”

The prime minister is engaged in a blitz of international meetings and interviews warning against any slackening of international sanctions directed at the Iranian regime over its nuclear enrichment program. Netanyahu has openly threatened that Israel would unilaterally attack the Iranian nuclear program if it was allowed to advance to the point where Iran was able to develop a nuclear weapon.

Sources close to the Prime Minister’s Office suggested the Tuesday speech was directed at the Iranian issue.

Netanyahu also offered hints at Israel’s negotiating position in peace talks with the Palestinians.

“The third lesson” of the war, he said, “is the strategic importance of buffer zones. [Israel’s] control of the Golan [Heights] and the Sinai Peninsula [in 1973] prevented an enemy penetration deep into the country” in the first days of the war.

Press reports sourced to leaks from the peace talks with the Palestinians have suggested in recent days that Israel seeks to retain security control over the Jordan Valley as a buffer zone to the east.

And, Netanyahu said, “there is a fourth lesson: Peace is attained from a position of strength. In the Yom Kippur War, despite the enemy’s excellent opening position, they learned they could not best us with weapons. Five years later, [Egyptian president Anwar] Sadat and [prime minister Menachem] Begin signed a peace deal, and later [peace accords were signed] with Jordan.

“Now we are engaged in a serious investment in [making] peace with the Palestinians,” Netanyahu added. “Peace was achieved when our neighbors understood we are powerful and will not disappear.”

Later Tuesday, while observing a training exercise of the 7th Armored Corps Brigade on the Golan Heights, Netanyahu spoke about the P5+1 nuclear talks underway in Geneva between Iranian nuclear negotiators and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.

“I think that it would be a historic mistake to ease up on Iran without it dismantling the nuclear capabilities it is developing,” Netanyahu said. “Iran is now on the ropes, and it is possible to employ sanctions at their fullest in order to achieve the desired result. I hope that the international community will do this, and I call upon it to do so.”


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Israel; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bomb; bombbombbombbombiran; braking; iran; israel; newsyesterday; nuclear; saudiarabia; war

1 posted on 10/16/2013 8:11:11 AM PDT by Dave346
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To: Dave346

I stand with Israel.

If there is a strike, the USA should be there to back Israel!


2 posted on 10/16/2013 8:14:16 AM PDT by PATRIOT1876
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To: Dave346

Operation Opera - preemptive strike on Osirak (Iran's turn ...?)

3 posted on 10/16/2013 8:18:25 AM PDT by Servant of the Cross (the Truth will set you free)
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To: Dave346
Ben,

We'd like to support Israel but since the Republicans attacked our economy, we just can't help right now. So sorry.

Your friend Barry.

4 posted on 10/16/2013 8:25:31 AM PDT by showme_the_Glory (ILLEGAL: prohibited by law. ALIEN: Owing political allegiance to another country or government)
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To: PATRIOT1876

God will bless those who bless Israel and He will hammer into dust those who do not bless and support Israel. Our Muslin president does not support Israel, thus has brought JUDGMENT upon America! Plus, America has also worked herself into judgment by her own actions. Double judgment upon America will come by the hand of the Lord. America without TOTAL repentance will be driven into the ground. Scoff if you might, that will not change it. It will still come. Time running short for all to make the choice. That choice is upon all shoulders of all who don’t believe.


5 posted on 10/16/2013 8:28:13 AM PDT by RetiredArmy (I am proud to be a Christian and follower of my Lord Jesus Christ. Time is short for U to know Him!)
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To: Servant of the Cross

Will the Saudis tacitly cooperate this time? Iran is a huge threat to all the Arab states in the region, and their version of Islam actually aggravates the threat. The Saudi princes don’t want their solid gold lifestyles interfered with, and Israel has never threatened to do so.

Netanyahu & Israel are going to be universally condemned no matter what they do; their mere existence is an offense to the muzzie `Ummah’. Which is worse, regretting what you did, or what you could have done but failed to?

Would be interesting to know just which indications of imminent military action would have even the mullahs going “Uh-oh, something’s about to go down”?


6 posted on 10/16/2013 8:31:43 AM PDT by elcid1970 ("In the modern world, Muslims are living fossils.")
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To: RetiredArmy

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


7 posted on 10/16/2013 8:43:24 AM PDT by pollywog ("O Thou who changest not, abide with me.".......)
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To: Dave346
In Yom Kippur War anniversary speech, prime minister suggests that inaction on Iran is costlier than international opprobrium

So, I wonder when the attack will take place?

8 posted on 10/16/2013 8:55:06 AM PDT by Mark17 (Chicago Blackhawks: Stanley Cup champions 2010, 2013. Vietnam Veteran, 70-71)
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To: RetiredArmy
Double judgment upon America will come by the hand of the Lord. America without TOTAL repentance will be driven into the ground.

I believe you are right sir.

Retired Air Force.

9 posted on 10/16/2013 9:16:30 AM PDT by Mark17 (Chicago Blackhawks: Stanley Cup champions 2010, 2013. Vietnam Veteran, 70-71)
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To: Mark17

bttt


10 posted on 10/16/2013 9:17:47 AM PDT by ConservativeMan55 (In America, we don't do pin pricks. But sometimes we elect them.)
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To: PATRIOT1876
...the USA should be there to back Israel!

Under the Bathhouse Barry regime, the US will be there to back Iran and condemn Israel.

11 posted on 10/16/2013 9:31:08 AM PDT by mojito (Zero, our Nero.)
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To: Dave346
“Iran is now on the ropes, and it is possible to employ sanctions at their fullest in order to achieve the desired result. I hope that the international community will do this, and I call upon it to do so.”

If Iran's economy is truly on the ropes, then some "unforseen" event like a bad accident at their major refinery complex at Abadan would really push them.

Here's hoping for an unfortunate and "surprise" uh...accident (yeah, an ACCIDENT - THAT'S the ticket!) at Abadan.

12 posted on 10/16/2013 10:25:24 AM PDT by Ancesthntr ("The right to buy weapons is the right to be free." A. E. van Vogt)
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To: Servant of the Cross

What kind of radioactivity can we expect? I’ve heard a lot of talk of strikes on Iranian reactors, but no talk of of radioactive release.


13 posted on 10/16/2013 11:07:15 AM PDT by FreedomStar3028 (Evil must be punished.)
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To: FreedomStar3028

Maybe we should ask the Japanese. I think they have some experience with this.


14 posted on 10/16/2013 11:17:27 AM PDT by Servant of the Cross (the Truth will set you free)
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To: dennisw; Cachelot; Nix 2; veronica; Catspaw; knighthawk; Alouette; Optimist; weikel; Lent; GregB; ..
Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

..................

15 posted on 10/16/2013 2:29:36 PM PDT by SJackson (As a black man, you know, Barack could get shot going to the gas station, Michelle on Chicago)
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To: Servant of the Cross

I wonder how desperate the Saudis are getting? An airbase in SA - even just a dirt strip - would be a helluva force multiplier.


16 posted on 10/16/2013 3:58:34 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows (You can't have Ingsoc without an Emmanuel Goldstein.)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Berosus; bigheadfred; Bockscar; cardinal4; ColdOne; ...

Thanks Dave346.
...inaction on Iran is costlier than international opprobrium... "...never underestimate a threat, never underestimate an enemy, never ignore the signs of danger. We can't assume the enemy will act in ways that are convenient for us. The enemy can surprise us. Israel will not fall asleep on its watch again... we can’t surrender the option of a preventive strike. It is not necessary in every situation, and it must be weighed carefully and seriously. But there are situations in which paying heed to the international price of such a step is outweighed by the price in blood we will pay if we absorb a strategic strike that will demand a response later on, and perhaps too late... A preventive war, even a preventive strike, is among the most difficult decisions a government can take, because it will never be able to prove what would have happened if it had not acted. But the key difference between the [1967] Six Day War and the [1973] Yom Kippur War lies first of all in the fact that in the Six Day War we launched a preventive strike that broke the chokehold our enemies had placed on us, and on Yom Kippur the government decided, despite all warnings, to absorb the full force of an enemy attack." ...Netanyahu has openly threatened that Israel would unilaterally attack the Iranian nuclear program if it was allowed to advance to the point where Iran was able to develop a nuclear weapon... "The third lesson... is the strategic importance of buffer zones. [Israel's] control of the Golan [Heights] and the Sinai Peninsula [in 1973] prevented an enemy penetration deep into the country" in the first days of the war... "there is a fourth lesson: Peace is attained from a position of strength. In the Yom Kippur War, despite the enemy’s excellent opening position, they learned they could not best us with weapons. Five years later, [Egyptian president Anwar] Sadat and [prime minister Menachem] Begin signed a peace deal, and later [peace accords were signed] with Jordan... Peace was achieved when our neighbors understood we are powerful and will not disappear... Iran is now on the ropes, and it is possible to employ sanctions at their fullest in order to achieve the desired result. I hope that the international community will do this, and I call upon it to do so."

17 posted on 10/16/2013 4:46:14 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (It's no coincidence that some "conservatives" echo the hard left.)
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