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.



Taiwan’s President Departs for Pacific Visit with a 2-Day Stop in the US

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te waves to the media as he departs for South Pacific at Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan, Taiwan, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te waves to the media as he departs for South Pacific at Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan, Taiwan, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)
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Taiwan’s President Departs for Pacific Visit with a 2-Day Stop in the US

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te waves to the media as he departs for South Pacific at Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan, Taiwan, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te waves to the media as he departs for South Pacific at Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan, Taiwan, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)

Taiwan's president departed Saturday for a trip to the South Pacific that will include a two-day transit in the US, his first since assuming office.

The planned stopovers in Hawaii and the territory of Guam have already drawn fierce criticism from Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and objects to official exchanges between it and the US, the island's biggest backer and military provider.

Lai Ching-te left on a weeklong trip to visit the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau — three diplomatic allies of the self-governed island in the Pacific.

“I want to use the values of democracy, peace, and prosperity to continue to expand our cooperation with our allies, to deepen our partnership and let the world see Taiwan not just as a model of democracy, but a vital power in promoting the world's peace and stability, and prosperous development,” he said at Taoyuan International Airport ahead of his departure.

Though Taiwan retains strong contacts with dozens of other nations, it has only 12 formal diplomatic allies. The self-ruled democracy has recently been facing increasing pressure from China.

It is unclear whether Lai will meet with any members of the incoming US administration during his transit.

President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview with Bloomberg in July that Taiwan should pay for its defense. The island has purchased billions of dollars of defense weaponry from the US.

Trump evaded answering whether he would defend the island from Chinese military action. On Friday, the US State Department said it approved the sale of $385 million in spare parts and equipment for the fleet of F-16s, as well as support for tactical communication system to Taiwan.

While the US is obligated to help the island defend itself under the Taiwan Relations Act, it has maintained a position of strategic ambiguity over whether it would ever get involved if Taiwan were to be invaded by China.

A second Trump administration is expected to test US-China relations even more than the Republican’s first term, when the US imposed tariffs on more than $360 billion in Chinese products. Taiwan is one of the main sources of tension in the bilateral relationship.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday if the US wanted to maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait, it is important for it to handle the Taiwan issue “with utmost caution, clearly opposing Taiwan independence and supporting China’s peaceful reunification.”

She also said China firmly opposes any form of official interaction between the US and Taiwan, including visits by Taiwan’s leaders to the US for any reason.

When former Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen went to the US last year as part of a transit to Latin America, it drew vocal opposition from China. Tsai met with the former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the time.

The Chinese military also launched drills around Taiwan last year as a “stern warning” over what it called collusion between “separatists and foreign forces” days after Lai, then Taiwan’s vice president, stopped over in the US

China also strongly objects to leading American politicians visiting the island as it views any official contact with foreign governments and Taiwan as an infringement on its claims of sovereignty over Taiwan. Washington switched its formal recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.