Analysis: Blasts won’t push Iran further away from nuke,
“We have a long-term policy over the course of many administrations not to allow Iran to have nuclear abilities,” he said. “This [Iranian] regime with those abilities is an existential threat to Israel, and Israel cannot allow it to establish itself on our northern border.”
Therefore, “we take actions that are better left unsaid,” he added.
Ashkenazi spoke at a conference of Maariv and The Jerusalem Post marking the 10th anniversary of Israel joining the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
A series of mysterious explosions have occurred in Iran, starting last Thursday at a facility close to the Parchin military
complex. While Iran said the explosion was caused by a gas leak, satellite photos later showed it took place at a nearby missile production facility.
It was followed by an explosion at a hospital in Tehran that killed 19 people. On Friday, a large fire caused extensive damage to a building at the nuclear complex at Natanz, Iran’s largest uranium-enrichment facility. On Saturday, another fire was reported at a power station in the southern region of Ahvaz, close to the Iraqi border.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s comments to Army Radio were closer to a denial.
“Not every incident that transpires in Iran necessarily has something to do with us... All those systems are complex,” he said. “They have very high safety constraints, and I’m not sure they always know how to maintain them.”
“Everyone can be suspicious of us all the time,” he added. “But not every incident that happens in Iran necessarily has something to do with us.”
“We continue to act on all fronts to reduce the possibility that Iran will become a nuclear power, and we will continue to do this part of protecting our security,” Gantz said. •
But even before the directorate became operational, Israel was accused of launching a major cyberattack on Iran’s Shahid Rajaee Port, near Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz, causing chaos for days when the facility’s computer system crashed after being suddenly hit by hackers on May 9.
Troops from the IDF’s elite Military Intelligence Unit 8200, Military Intelligence’s Research Division and Operations Division, whose work and cooperation “resulted in a unique and impressive operational achievement,” were later awarded certificates of appreciation by head of Military Intelligence Maj.Gen. Tamir Hayman.
While the military did not expand on which operation they were given awards for, Hayman said the “mission was a first and significant step on a long path.”
Like Israel’s war-between-wars campaign, those who carry out cyberattacks usually do so far from the target and anonymously to allow for some plausible deniability to prevent an escalation.
Though it is unclear what sort of damage was actually caused to the various sites, Israel has been accused by Iran of being behind the attacks.
On Sunday, speaking to Army Radio, Defense Minister Benny Gantz denied Israel was behind the incidents, saying “not every incident that transpires in Iran necessarily has something to do with us... All those systems are complex, they have very high safety constraints and I’m not sure they always know how to maintain them.”
Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi meanwhile hinted otherwise, saying at a Maariv conference that “we have a long-term policy over the course of many administrations not to allow Iran to have nuclear abilities. This [Iranian] regime with those abilities is an existential threat to Israel... We take actions that are better left unsaid.”
While the two former IDF chiefs of staff may not be on the same page, Israel knows that it should prepare for any cyber retaliation by Iran. Though the Islamic Republic has not responded to Israeli strikes on its infrastructure in Syria, it is no fool when it comes to cyberwarfare, having been accused by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of conducting daily cyberattacks against Israel.
When Israel and Iran allegedly exchanged cyber jabs two months ago, Yigal Unna, the director-general of Israel’s National Cyber Directorate, warned that a “cyber winter is coming even faster than I suspected.”
If these mysterious “accidents” are really connected to an expanded war-between-wars campaign with the new Strategy and Third-Circle Directorate at the tip of the spear, those cyber jabs between Jerusalem and Tehran will soon turn into full-blown and deadly punches.
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