Israel is prepared to go to war with Iran, the head of Israel’s military said in an interview published Sunday.
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon also told the New York Times that he was not opposed to military action against Iran.
“I’m for war,” Yaalon said.
“We will respond to all threats.
If they are not serious, they can’t strike us.
But if they are serious, we will do it.”
Yaalon made his comments in response to a question from a reporter at a news conference.
Yaalon did not address whether Israel was prepared to attack Iran.
A U.S. official told the Times that Yaalon was responding to a reporter’s question about Israel’s options.
“The minister says that if Iran launches a new attack, we have to respond, and he did not say if he was prepared for war or not,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
The comments came as Israel’s defense minister said that the country would respond to any attack on Iran, which Israel says is developing nuclear weapons.
Yaarnon made the comments during an interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
Ya’alon said Israel is committed to defending itself from any possible Iranian attack.
“If they decide to attack us, we’ll respond to them,” he said.