Israel Prefers ISIS because Iran Is ‘Greater Threat’

Israeli defense minister: Iran is a rogue regime

Anti-aircraft missile S-200 being launched during a war game from an unknown location in Iran. © Iran’s Army / Reuters

Today, speaking at the Institute for National Security Studies’ (INSS) conference in Tel Aviv, Israeli defense minister Moshe Ya’alon stated that Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and “terror infrastructure” are a bigger threat than the Islamic State.

Israeli defense minister stressed that Iran is Israel’s main enemy. And if he were to choose between Iran and the Islamic State/Daesh/ISIL/ISIS in an open conflict, he and his country would “prefer ISIS.”

He said that the logic seems simple since ISIS/Daesh/ISIL will be defeated but Iran will continue to pose a threat to Israel with its new understanding with the West.

Ya’alon said “Iran is a rogue regime with designs on a regional hegemony. Hezbollah is Iran’s proxy, with the ability to declare war. Iran currently has terror infrastructure in place in five continents: Asia, Africa, Europe and both in South and North America.”

Ya’alon also claimed that Iran nuclear deal was a clear diplomatic victory for Iran. He added that on Tuesday that the nuclear agreement only “pushed back the clock from three months to one year” and that “if Iran feels economically secure, it can breakout and produce a bomb even faster.”

According to the P5+1 agreement which were signed last year at Geneva, Iran agreed to a 15-year moratorium on enriching uranium beyond 3.67 percent. Only the Natanz facility was approved for the enrichment while the Fordo facility was not approved to conduct any enrichment activities or store fissile material.

Israeli defense minister also claimed that Iran is becoming a key player in the region as the country supports Damascus against a large insurgency. He also said, “Iran is a key source of instability in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, and Gaza.”

On 7 February 2010, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told that the destruction of Israel was assured. Khamenei told Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, “Israel is going downhill toward decline and fall and God willing its obliteration is certain”. Khamenei went on to call Israel “a symbol of atrocity, viciousness, and ugliness,” and said the west’s “support for the Zionist regime is ineffective.