Israeli Prime Minister: Iran has been acting against us for years

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on April 4 to respond to efforts to harm Israelis, as the country geared up for a possible Iranian response to Israel’s alleged assassination of the top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander in Syria.

Speaking at a meeting of the security cabinet soon after his phone call with US President Joe Biden, Netanyahu said “Iran has been acting against us for years — directly and via proxies. And, therefore, Israel acts against Iran and its proxies — defensively and offensively”, The Times of Israel reports.

Netanyahu added: “We will know how to defend ourselves, and we will act according to the simple principle: that those who harm us or plan to harm us, we will harm.”

The possibility of Iran retaliating for Monday’s presumed Israeli airstrike on Iran’s embassy compound in Damascus has raised the specter of a wider war, though two Iranian sources told Reuters that Tehran’s response would be calibrated to avoid escalation.

An Israeli source told Channel 12 news that Israel would respond accordingly to any Iranian attack but added it appeared neither side wanted an escalation that could lead to an all-out war.

Since the October 7 attack by Gaza-ruling Hamas, Iran has avoided directly entering the fray, while supporting allies’ attacks on Israeli and US targets.

The Islamic Republic has several options. It could unleash its heavily armed proxies in Syria and Iraq on US forces, use Hezbollah to hit Israel directly or ramp up its uranium enrichment program. That would raise concern among the United States and its allies about Tehran’s potential to make a nuclear bomb, which the West has long sought to curb.

But many diplomats and analysts say Iran’s clerical elite does not want an all-out war with Israel or the US that might endanger its grip on power and would prefer to keep using proxies to carry out selective tactical attacks on its foes.

Quoting Israeli officials, the Walla news site reported that Israel has made it clear to the US that if Iran strikes from its territory, Israel would have no choice but to respond.

Meanwhile, Israel told the US if Iran launches an attack from its soil against Israel in retaliation for its deadly strike in Syria earlier this week, it would draw a strong response from Israel and take the current conflict to another level, Israeli officials tell Axios.

Iranian officials have publicly threatened to retaliate against Israel for the attack that killed a top Iranian official. The Biden administration and the Israeli government are highly concerned Iran is preparing for an imminent attack, US and Israeli officials said.

Iranian proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Gaza have attacked Israel but there hasn't been an attack from Iranian soil.

A direct Iranian strike on Israel would be unprecedented and could lead to a regional war in the Middle East.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the top of an Israeli security cabinet meeting on Thursday that Iran has been operating against Israel for years "both directly and via its proxies, and therefore Israel is operating against Iran and its proxies, both defensively and offensively."

"We will know how to defend ourselves and will operate according to the basic principle of whoever is harming or planning to harm us — we will harm him," he said according to a statement from his office.

In their call on Thursday, President Biden and Netanyahu discussed public Iranian threats against Israel. "President Biden made clear that the United States strongly supports Israel in the face of those threats," the White House said.

An Israeli strike on Damascus earlier this week killed Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a top Iranian Quds Force general in charge of Iran's military operations in Lebanon and Syria.