Major General (Rest.) Eitan Ben Eliyahu, former commander of the Air Force, spoke this morning (Thursday) with Nissim Meshal and Guy Peleg following the joint exercise held by the IDF and the United States Army simulating an attack on Iran.
“First of all, it was done about seven-eight years late. In any negotiation you have to have leverage on the other side, the leverage on the other side when it comes to Iran is the possibility that we will use force. This thing was very relevant on the eve of the agreement in 2015. In my opinion today it has less meaning given the situation, the situation we are in, the whole story is between the Iranians and the Americans,” Ben Eliyahu began his words.
“Today, air forces operate in an integrated manner, in recent years we have been doing many exercises with European air forces, the arenas are large and there must be integration between the air forces. Therefore, from a technical point of view, it is necessary. There is another interesting thing here, it is reflected in the Prime Minister’s comment when he watched the exercise last night, I think there is also an American hidden intention. ‘We will show that we are with you, but as a result we will increase the control so that you will not go alone’, therefore with all the advantage that there is in this, both politically and operationally, there is a hidden intention here – we are here and you cannot do the It’s alone,” he added.
When asked if the holding of the exercise symbolizes the fact that the renewal of the nuclear agreement is off the table, Ben Eliyahu replied: “I agree with you. You are continuing what I said. We do not attack without the Americans, therefore what remains is to talk and not talk. Therefore what has been created is the most realistic alternative , which as it has been going on for almost 30 years.”
When asked if he was in favor of an Israeli attack on Iran, he replied: “No. We know and can attack there, the Air Force has the ability to get there, appropriate armament, appropriate intelligence, it can carry out a successful military operation. You have to ask a simple question – what is the required achievement? Let’s say You set yourself six goals, and the Air Force did an outstanding job, wake up tomorrow morning, have you achieved the feat? The Iranian nuclear program has been eliminated? It has been postponed for 30 years and it will be postponed for another 10 even without this attack. You have to set for yourself, are the conditions there? Attack? Yes. Is the expected achievement at least as much as the required achievement? And then the third question – will you achieve the consequential achievement of the new reality as a result of the attack? You have to ask these three questions.”
“It’s not a matter of Israel being able to attack or not, an operation must be carried out until they raise their hands and say, ‘We are withdrawing from the plan.’ Around the table with them, ‘let’s talk,'” Ben Eliyahu finished his words.
Assisted in the preparation of the article: Shani Romano 103fm