Two Former Israeli Ministers Back Military Solution to Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions

Leader of the opposition and former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a media statement as he leaves the prime minister's office after receiving a security update with Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid regarding the Iran nuclear deal in Jerusalem, Israel, 29 August 2022. (EPA)
Leader of the opposition and former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a media statement as he leaves the prime minister's office after receiving a security update with Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid regarding the Iran nuclear deal in Jerusalem, Israel, 29 August 2022. (EPA)
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Two Former Israeli Ministers Back Military Solution to Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions

Leader of the opposition and former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a media statement as he leaves the prime minister's office after receiving a security update with Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid regarding the Iran nuclear deal in Jerusalem, Israel, 29 August 2022. (EPA)
Leader of the opposition and former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a media statement as he leaves the prime minister's office after receiving a security update with Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid regarding the Iran nuclear deal in Jerusalem, Israel, 29 August 2022. (EPA)

Israeli government and opposition leaders have brought the issue of Iran and confronting its nuclear project and all its military activities into their campaigns for the upcoming elections.

Two former ministers said that the “military option” is the only solution to confront Tehran, and that the Iranians “know that current prime minister, Yair Lapid, is not fit to lead Israel in such a war.”

According to the ministers, Israelis prefer a strong leader like former prime minister and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

Lapid and Netanyahu held a meeting on Monday to discuss the revival of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and the talks between Iran and world powers which appeared to have advanced in the past week.

After the briefing with Lapid, Netanyahu said he was “more concerned about Iran” than before the meeting. He accused Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz of failing to prevent a “disastrous Iran nuclear deal.”

Furthermore, he accused the government of “childishly working on a dangerous issue.”

He indicated that Lapid “is primarily committed to the US administration, not Israel's interests.”

“Iran has witnessed three decades of international efforts to deter its nuclear program and its military projects to dominate the Middle East. Yet no methods of action have worked so far,” said Yoav Galant, former minister of construction and housing.

“The only solution to stop it is to go to a military operation or to seriously threaten a military operation. Nothing else works. Everything else is just talk,” he added.

Former minister of strategic affairs, Yuval Steinitz echoed Galant’s statements on military pressure being the only way to get Iran to abandon its nuclear and regional ambitions.

“The world must admit that its diplomatic efforts and economic sanctions have failed to influence Iran to change its aggressive course, and there are no longer any pressure tools other than military pressure,” he told local radio on Tuesday.



New Zealand Navy Ship Sinks Off Samoa

A view of a New Zealand Navy vessel on fire, as seen from Tafitoala, Samoa, October 6, 2024, in this picture obtained from social media. Dave Poole/via REUTERS
A view of a New Zealand Navy vessel on fire, as seen from Tafitoala, Samoa, October 6, 2024, in this picture obtained from social media. Dave Poole/via REUTERS
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New Zealand Navy Ship Sinks Off Samoa

A view of a New Zealand Navy vessel on fire, as seen from Tafitoala, Samoa, October 6, 2024, in this picture obtained from social media. Dave Poole/via REUTERS
A view of a New Zealand Navy vessel on fire, as seen from Tafitoala, Samoa, October 6, 2024, in this picture obtained from social media. Dave Poole/via REUTERS

A Royal New Zealand Navy vessel ran aground and sank off Samoa but all 75 crew and passengers on board were safe, the New Zealand Defense Force said in a statement on Sunday.

Manawanui, the navy's specialist dive and hydrographic vessel, ran aground near the southern coast of Upolu on Saturday night as it was conducting a reef survey, Commodore Shane Arndell, the maritime component commander of the New Zealand Defense Force, said in a statement.
Several vessels responded and assisted in rescuing the crew and passengers who had left the ship in lifeboats, Reuters quoted Arndell as saying.
A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-8A Poseidon was also deployed to assist in the rescue.
The cause of the grounding was unknown and would need further investigation, New Zealand Defense Force said.
Video and photos published on local media showed the Manawanui, which cost the New Zealand government NZ$103 million in 2018, listing heavily and with plumes of thick grey smoke rising after it ran aground.
The vessel later capsized and was below the surface by 9 a.m. local time, New Zealand Defence Force said.
The agency said it was "working with authorities to understand the implications and minimise the environmental impacts.”
Chief of Navy Rear Admiral Garin Golding told a press conference in Auckland that a plane would leave for Samoa on Sunday to bring the rescued crew and passengers back to New Zealand.
He said some of those rescued had suffered minor injuries, including from walking across a reef.
Defense Minister Judith Collins described the grounding as a "really challenging for everybody on board."
"I know that what has happened is going to take quite a bit of time to process," Collins told the press conference.
"I look forward to pinpointing the cause so that we can learn from it and avoid a repeat," she said, adding that an immediate focus was to salvage "what is left" of the vessel.
Rescue operations were coordinated by Samoan emergency services and Australian Defense personnel with the assistance of the New Zealand rescue center, according to a statement from Samoa Police, Prison and Corrections Service posted on Facebook.
Manawanui is used to conduct a range of specialist diving, salvage and survey tasks around New Zealand and across the South West Pacific.
New Zealand's Navy is already working at reduced capacity with three of its nine ships idle due to personnel shortages.