Israel’s security cabinet, chaired by caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has ordered the military to step up preparations for a possible attack on Iran, Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported on Wednesday evening (11 November).
KAN reported the directives “could lead it to carry out activities that could trigger a war”.
The directives became public after opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot — tasked by President Isaac Herzog with forming a new government after Netanyahu’s ruling coalition lost its parliamentary majority in the October elections — told Netanyahu not to deploy the military “without a direct and immediate threat” until the next government is formed.
The security cabinet last met on 5 October and is scheduled to convene on Sunday, per the Jerusalem Post.
Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei warned that if the US launches another war against Iran, every military base involved in the aggression, “from West Asia to Europe”, would be a legitimate target.
Iran has rejected a US proposal to move its stockpile of 60%-enriched uranium to a third country. Oil prices rose about 1% on Wednesday, with Brent settling at $92.76 a barrel.
US President Donald Trump has said he is prepared to return to war if a diplomatic track offered by Qatar fails. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said large-scale military operations are unnecessary.
The UN Security Council is to meet on Thursday at 3:10 pm New York time (20:10 GMT) on the situation in the Middle East, at Bahrain’s request.
Source: Al Jazeera
