By TAL SCHNEIDER, ToI
Zohar Palti speaks with Channel 13 news in an interview aired on March 25, 2022. (Screenshot/Channel 13)
Zohar Palti, the former head of the Defense Ministry’s political-military bureau and former intelligence director in the Mossad, says that Iran is days to weeks away from enriching uranium to the 90% military-grade level.
Iran, he says “is at a more advanced level than I can ever remember when it comes to uranium enrichment,” Palti says. “They are days or weeks away from enriching uranium to 90%, which is military-grade.” Such a level “does not mean they can immediately build a nuclear weapon… but it’s very bad, and we’ve never been closer to it.”
Speaking at an event in Ramat Hasharon hosted by Times of Israel political correspondent Tal Schneider, Palti says Israel has the military capabilities to attack Iran’s nuclear plants: “I am not implying that Israel is capable, I am saying it is.”
Palti says he believes Israel should prepare for a significant attack on Iran and will have to make “serious decisions” in the near future.
“Iran is not a standalone issue,” Palti says of the current internal Israeli political divisions. “Our national security and our strategic relationship with the US are above all. Nothing can be done in Israel without the Americans.”
Palti warns against inflaming tensions atop the Temple Mount, saying that Israel’s relationship with Jordan is its greatest strategic asset.
“The national security of each of the countries is intertwined,” he says. “The interest of the State of Israel is for Jordan to be strong and unshakable. We have a strong and serious security system. The next IDF chief of staff, Herzi Halevy, will explain to the cabinet ministers what is at stake and what the meaning of violating the status quo on the Temple Mount is.”
I have long been convinced that the solution to Iran’s problem for Israel is for the regime of the Ayatollahs to be replaced by one that is prepared to build long-term constructive relations with Israel.It is well known that the danger of the Ayatollah regime is by no means confined to the nuclear danger. It is also known to have a unique survival capability.I suggest that internal insurrection alone will not bring this regime down for the foreseeable future. There are very different opposition groups, not all of them are friendly towards Israel. But there are some Israel can deal with.Very fine and precise work is needed to coordinate external and internal force influences on the Ayatollah regime to bring it down.