Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev on Saturday confirmed that Israel was behind the strike against Iran on April 19, which destroyed parts of the Islamic regime’s Shikari Air Base near Isfahan.
“We responded and the message got through. Iran got the message, and the world understands that the State of Israel is not a sucker,” Regev told Channel 14 on Saturday evening.
Regev is the first Israeli official to confirm the attack—something that the Jewish state usually avoids doing as part of its strategy of ambiguity.
The United States had previously said it was in Israeli strike, and The New York Times likewise reported, citing two Iranian officials, that the attack consisted of a high-tech missile that hit a Russian-made S-300 air defense system at Shikari.
Western officials told the newspaper that the strike was intended to show Tehran that Israel could break through Iran’s defense systems undetected.
According to the Times, the missile was launched by a fighter jet “far from Israeli or Iranian airspace,” and did not enter Jordanian airspace so as to not to involve Amman.
The attack came five days after Iran launched an unprecedented combined attack of more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel in the first-ever direct attack on the Jewish state from Iranian soil. According to the Israel Defense Forces, 99% of the threats were shot down in a joint mission of Israel, the United States, Britain and several Arab neighbors. Tehran claimed the attack was retaliation for an April 1 strike that killed a top Iranian general in Damascus.
Some Israeli officials have blamed the U.S. administration for the Iranian attack, as well as for attempting to curtail any Israeli response.
Speaking to JNS on the sidelines of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Hungary 2024, Religious Zionism Party Knesset member Ohad Tal said: “When the first thing President [Joe] Biden does after Iran’s unprecedented attack against Israel is to call Prime Minister Netanyahu and tell him America will not support a response, that’s not supporting Israel.”
Continuing, he said, “So, I think we have a problem. Part of the reason that Iran attacked Israel directly for the first time in history—previously they only used proxies—is because they saw that the U.S. administration is not supporting us. And they felt maybe Israel is isolated or weak,” he said.
{Matzav.com}
