Key Points and Summary – A new, dangerous flashpoint is emerging in the Middle East as prominent Israeli hawk and former defense minister Avigdor Liberman is calling for a preemptive strike against Iran.
-Liberman argues that Tehran is “obsessed” with a “war of revenge” and that Israel should strike first, exposing a deep and bitter rift within Israel’s right-wing leadership.
-His incendiary comments come as he also accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “sacrificing soldiers” in Gaza and recklessly arming anti-Hamas clans, suggesting the fragile ceasefire with Iran could be short-lived amid Israel’s own political turmoil.
After the ’12-Day War’, Is Israel Preparing to Attack Iran Again?
In June, Israel attacked Iran for nearly two weeks, and then the U.S. followed up with bunker-buster attacks of their own, over a single night.
Iran retaliated, firing missiles and drones against Israel, and then Israel and Iran reached a ceasefire, to wrap up what President Donald Trump dubbed the “12-Day War.”
In the weeks since, with Iran set to return to the negotiating table with European powers, the ceasefire has held, and the attacks did not kick off World War III, as some had feared during those June days.
But Trump has continued to talk about wanting to possibly attack Iran again, and now a prominent Israeli politician is making similar threats.
Israel: A New War with Iran Coming Soon?
Avigdor Liberman, the head of Israel’s Yisrael Beytenu party and a former deputy prime minister and defense minister, said in a TV interview this week that Iran is “obsessed” with seeking revenge on Israel, and that Israel will have to attack Iran again at some point.
“I could tell you the same thing that the intelligence assessments and officials say” about the status of Iran’s nuclear program. “They all speak of around one to two years.”
The comments came on Israel’s Channel 12, as cited by The Times of Israel.
“That’s the only thing that interests them right now. A war of revenge, that’s it,” Liberman said of the Iranians. He added that “it would be worthwhile for us to strike first again.”
“What worries me most are the ballistic missiles,” Liberman said in the interview. “You saw what happened here when just 26 missiles landed inside Israel and the level of damage that it caused.”
The History of Avignor and Bibi
Liberman, it should be noted, currently holds no government ministry and is not part of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition.
The head of a secular nationalist party that mostly represents immigrants to Israel from the former Soviet Union, Liberman was once closely allied with Netanyahu, holding several different government portfolios at different times. Liberman’s party and the Likud even joined a coalition government together for a time, with Liberman as deputy prime minister, but the two men had a falling-out, as has often been the case with Netanyahu and other leaders on Israel’s right.
Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu currently has six seats in the 120-seat Knesset, making it the fourth-largest among Israeli opposition parties.
“Sacrificing Soldiers”
Earlier this month, Liberman accused his former ally Netanyahu of prolonging the war in Gaza, and “sacrificing soldiers,” to keep his government coalition together.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the comments came at a press conference, when Liberman stated that Israeli soldiers serving in Gaza have been “sacrificed on the altar of maintaining the coalition.”
He went on to allege that if the prime minister were to end the war, Otzma Yehudit and the Religious Zionist Party (RZP) would depart his coalition, leading to the collapse of his government and possibly new elections.
In June, Liberman ripped Netanyahu for having armed “Clans in Gaza” to fight Hamas, something that the prime minister did not deny and later confirmed.
“On the advice of security officials, we activated clans in Gaza that oppose Hamas,” Netanyahu said at the time. “What’s wrong with that? It’s only good. It only saves the lives of IDF soldiers.”
The group in question is an anti-Hamas military called Popular Forces of Palestine.
“They are receiving weapons from the state of Israel. It’s a total madness,” Liberman said in a radio interview in early June. “It’s unclear to me who approved it.”
“We’re talking about the equivalent of ISIS in Gaza. No one can guarantee that these weapons will not be directed at Israel. We have no way of monitoring or following,” Liberman said of the weapons transfers.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
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