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.



Manchester Bombing Survivors Awarded Damages for Harassment by Conspiracy Theorist

Martin Hibbert, who was paralysed in the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, speaks to media outside the Royal Courts of Justice after the trial of his lawsuit against Richard D. Hall for alleged harassment, in London, Britain July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Tobin/File Photo
Martin Hibbert, who was paralysed in the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, speaks to media outside the Royal Courts of Justice after the trial of his lawsuit against Richard D. Hall for alleged harassment, in London, Britain July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Tobin/File Photo
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Manchester Bombing Survivors Awarded Damages for Harassment by Conspiracy Theorist

Martin Hibbert, who was paralysed in the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, speaks to media outside the Royal Courts of Justice after the trial of his lawsuit against Richard D. Hall for alleged harassment, in London, Britain July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Tobin/File Photo
Martin Hibbert, who was paralysed in the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, speaks to media outside the Royal Courts of Justice after the trial of his lawsuit against Richard D. Hall for alleged harassment, in London, Britain July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Tobin/File Photo

Two survivors of a bombing that killed 22 people at the close of an Ariana Grande concert seven years ago were on Friday awarded 45,000 pounds ($58,184) in damages after successfully suing a conspiracy theorist who claimed the attack was staged.

Martin Hibbert was paralysed from the waist down and his daughter Eve, then 14, suffered a catastrophic brain injury in the bombing at Manchester Arena in northern England in 2017, Reuters reported.

They sued Richard Hall – a self-styled journalist who claimed without evidence that the attack was orchestrated by British government agencies – for harassment.

Their case bears some similarities to defamation lawsuits brought against US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones by relatives of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting.

Judge Karen Steyn ruled last month that Hall's conduct in publishing a book and videos about the Manchester Arena bombing and filming Eve Hibbert and her mother outside their house in 2019 amounted to harassment.

The judge awarded Martin and Eve Hibbert a total of 45,000 pounds following a further hearing on Friday, British media reported.