"Everything is on the table" for retaliation against Iran, Israeli defense minister tells CNN
From CNN’s Jeremy Diamond
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant during a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 28, 2023.
Abir Sultan/Reuters
Israel is closely coordinating with the United States as it prepares to strike back at Iran, but will make its own, independent decisions about how to retaliate, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told CNN.
Even as the US has made clear it opposes a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, Gallant said Israel has not ruled out any of its options.
“Everything is on the table,” said Gallant, who will meet with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday to coordinate on threats from Iran and its proxies.
“Israel has capabilities to hit targets near and far — we have proved it. We will respond to the Iranian attack appropriately. We will not stand by and neither should the international community,” Gallant said.
Gallant has become one of Israel’s key interlocutors with the US, speaking frequently with Austin and top White House officials. He also met Sunday with Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, the head of US Central Command, to discuss Israel’s planned retaliation against Iran.
Gallant also touted the success of Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah so far, saying Israel has “dismantled a major part of their capabilities” and that Hezbollah now faces “a lack of command and control.”
The defense minister said the
ground operation remains limited to targeting Hezbollah positions closer to the border, even as the operation has expanded in recent days.
Gallant argued that the blows Israel has dealt against Hezbollah “have made a crack that now opens the door to change not just in Lebanon, but in the entire Middle East.”