Israel must be ready for any Iranian attack
Pastor Dale Morgan
Israel must be ready for any Iranian attack: minister*
Reuters
Tuesday, August 22, 2006; 1:36 AM
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel should prepare for the possibility of a
missile attack from Iran, a cabinet minister said on Tuesday.
"We are liable to face an Iranian missile attack. The Iranians have said
very clearly that if they come under attack, their primary target would
be Israel," Rafi Eitan, a member of the decision-making inner cabinet,
told Israel Radio.
Iran could fire missiles at the Jewish state "therefore we must prepare
for what could come, and prepare the entire country for a missile strike
attack, to prepare all the civilian systems so they are ready for this,"
Eitan said.
The radio said Eitan, a former spymaster, meant that Israel should
prepare its bomb shelters to protect against a possible Iranian attack.
It quoted Eitan as alluding to the current international standoff with
Iran over its uranium enrichment, saying if the situation deteriorates,
Israel would be the first to come under attack.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for Israel to be "wiped
off the map." He has said Israel "should not assume" its ceasefire with
Iranian-backed Hizbollah guerrillas last week means an end to the crisis.
Hizbollah fired 4,000 rockets on northern Israel during the war.
Iranian cleric Amad Khatami has said that Iran would hit Tel Aviv with
medium-ranged missiles it came under attack. Arms experts say Iran's
Shahab-3 missiles are capable of striking Israel.
Eitan's remarks also came as tensions rose between Iran and six world
powers led by the United States, who have sought to persuade Tehran to
halt its uranium enrichment program, with an August 31 deadline for
Tehran to face possible sanctions from the United Nations.
Israel is widely believed to be the only nuclear power in the Middle East.