© Flash 90Lieutenant General Aviv Kochavi
Iran has "become the most dangerous country in the Middle East," Lieut. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, Israel Defence Forces' Chief of General Staff said Sunday, the Jerusalem Post reports.
"[Iran] is located in the third circle [in relation to Israel]," Kochavi said, referring to the country's geographic proximity, "but is highly effective in influencing the first and second circles," he added, referring to Iran's alleged cooperation with a range of militias stretching from Lebanon and Syria to Yemen. According to the officer, although Iran has "made significant progress in its nuclear weapons program, the nuclear threat is no longer the only threat. Iran also has conventional weapons."
Kochavi accused Iran of funding 'terrorist' organizations like Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Palestinian territories, and of trying to carry out terrorist attacks against Israel. Although Israel, the US and many US allies recognize groups like Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist groups, many other countries do not.
Kochavi's comments came in the wake of remarks earlier Sunday by Prime Minister Netanyahu accusing Iran of lying to the world "in order to attain nuclear weapons." The International Atomic Energy Agency now "understands...what we have said for years," Netanyahu said, referring to a recent agency report accusing Tehran of backpeddling on its obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal. Tehran has denied the claims, and called on the international community not to listen to a report based on Mossad claims.
Israel and Iran have engaged in back and forth threats and claims that the other side was the region's 'biggest threat to peace.' Tel Aviv claims that Iran seeks to acquire nuclear weapons and spread terrorism throughout the region to threaten Israeli national security, including through proxy forces operating along its borders. Tehran, meanwhile, says Israel's illegal military actions in Syria, Lebanon, Palestinian territories and Iraq, as well as its possession of an actual nuclear arsenal, make it the greater danger.
Comment: What would Israel do with all its free time if it didn't have to repetitiously convince itself it has a manufactured enemy? If Iran was going to bomb Israel, there have been decades past in which it could have done so. Would it make a bit of difference to its treatment of the Palestinians? Curtail its land grabs and demolition derby? Change its politics? Find new relevance? Keep its hands out of the USA and not demand $3B+ per year to increase its armament? Ditch the spread of anti-Semitism virus around the globe? Answer is 'No'. Israel is a country driven by fear and for that you have to have a long-lasting and ultimate enemy - truth or fiction.