Israel's defence minister warns military option against Iran must remain on the table

Israel’s Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon has warned that preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons is impossible without keeping the military option on the table. Ya’alon made these remarks during a meeting with secondary school students in Israel ahead of their military service. According to Israeli Radio, Ya’alon explained that “the use of force against Iran should serve as a last resort, but the last resort is sometimes inevitable.”

Ya’alon noted that the interim Geneva agreement with Iran included “a few problematic provisions”, without elaborating on the type or significance of these provisions. He also confirmed that Israel continues to closely follow the developments in the Iranian nuclear issue.

The world’s six major powers known as the P5+1, which includes the United States, China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany, reached an interim agreement with Iran over its nuclear programme in Geneva on 23 November, which requires Tehran to open its nuclear facilities to inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency while halting some of its uranium enrichment activities, in exchange for easing sanctions over the coming six months. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the agreement a “historic mistake” while the Palestinians hope that it will provide some kind of model to resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Wednesday to discuss the Iranian nuclear file and the US strategy towards reaching a permanent agreement with Iran.

The US State Department has issued a statement saying that Kerry will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem to discuss the Iranian nuclear programme and the Israeli-Palestinian talks, and then he will meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah to discuss with him the results of his talks with the Israeli side.

Kerry is scheduled to visit Israel, Palestine, Vietnam and the Philippines during his one week trip, which will last from 11 to 18 December.