Netanyahu: Iran emboldened by lack of response to aggression

“Israel will not extend the other cheek, and anyone who wants to be aggressive will be answered in full force and pay a heavy price,” Netanyahu said.

By HERB KEINON
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a ceremony for new IDF officers (photo credit: KOBI GIDEON/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a ceremony for new IDF officers
(photo credit: KOBI GIDEON/GPO)
The failure to respond to Iran’s aggression in the region is making the country more brazen, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday in an apparent criticism of the US’ lack of response to Iranian attacks in recent months on oil installations, drones and ships in the Persian Gulf.
“The area around us is turbulent,” Netanyahu said at an IDF officers training course graduation ceremony at a base near Mitzpe Ramon. “The threats are popping up all around us – in Syria, Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, and also in Iraq, in Yemen and directly in Iran.”
Earlier this week, he said Iran is deploying precision weapons to Yemen “in order to strike Israel.”
Netanyahu told the new IDF officers that Iran and pro-Iranian forces are actively – and without let-up – arming themselves.
“We are prepared for the threats, and will not hesitate to deliver a fierce blow against anyone who will try to harm us,” he said. “The level of Iran’s boldness in the region is rising, and is getting even greater in light of a lack of a response.”
Israel, he said, “will not extend the other cheek, and anyone who wants to be aggressive will be answered in full force and pay a heavy price.”