Benny Gantz’s comments come at a time when Israel is pressing countries to take action at the United Nations over the drone attack on the Mercer Street oil tanker in the Arabian Sea last week.
The attack, which has not yet been announced, killed two people, a Briton working for security firm Embry, and a Romanian crew member, according to the ship’s owner, Zodiac Maritime, a London-based international company owned by Israeli Eyal Ofer.
Israel, like the United States and the United Kingdom, immediately accused Iran of being behind the attack, but neither of them provided evidence to support their claims. Tehran, which along with allied regional militias has carried out similar attacks, has denied its involvement.
Speaking to the Ynet news site, Gantz responded to whether Israel was willing to attack Iran with a resounding “yes.”
“We are at a time when we need to take military action against Iran,” Gantz said. “The world needs to act against Iran now,” he insisted.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett already made a similar point.
“I just heard that Iran, in a cowardly way, is trying to evade responsibility in this case, which they deny [qualquer envolvimento]. So I can say with absolute certainty that Iran carried out this attack on the ship. […]. “There is evidence of that,” he said during his weekly cabinet meeting.
We hope the international community will send a clear signal to the Iranian regime that it has made a grave mistake. He added, without specifying in any case how to send a message to Iran in our own way.
The incident recorded just a week ago against the oil tanker Mercer Street is the first known casualty after years of attacks on merchant ships in the region linked to tensions with Iran.
“Hardcore alcohol maven. Hipster-friendly analyst. Introvert. Devoted social media advocate.”
