Israeli embassies, Air Force on high alert

Israeli embassies and the country’s Air Force are on high alert as concerns intensify that Iran might carry out an attack against the Jewish state.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is increasingly worried about Iran’s capabilities to carry out cruise missile attacks or suicide drone attacks similar to the ones used in an October attack against Saudi Arabian oil rigs. Israeli media reported that the Air Force made adjustments to the nation’s air defense systems in light of these fears.

“Iran is seeking to develop now precision-guided munitions, missiles that can hit any target in the Middle East with a circumference of five to ten meters,” Netanyahu said. “They are developing this in Iran. They want to place them in Iraq and in Syria, and to convert Lebanon’s arsenal of 130,000 [imprecise] rockets to precision-guided munitions. They seek also to develop that, and have already begun to put that in Yemen, with the goal of reaching Israel from there too.”

Iran seems to have been growing bolder after the Saudi Arabia attack and Israeli officials are concerned the Islamic regime is more “aggressive and creative” than before, according to news reports.

Army Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi called the situation “tense and precarious.” Netanyahu even speculated that Iran could try to launch precision-guided missiles from Yemen and elsewhere in the region. He called on the United States to impose more sanctions on Iran.

Israel believes that Iran has been building up its drone arsenal in Syria as well. Israel has attacked Iranian targets including thwarting what the army claims were plans to send attack drones into Israel armed with explosives.

While Israeli foreign missions were also ordered to beef up security in case of potential attacks, in any case Israeli embassies around the world announced a strike and shuttered their doors on Wednesday over a contract dispute. 

“Due to the decision of the Israeli Ministry of Finance to breach understandings that were agreed upon and signed by the Director General of the Ministry of Finance on July 21, 2019, and to apply a one-sided procedure that alters a protocol that has been in place for several decades, we are forced to close the Embassy,” said a statement that was posted on the websites of various missions.

Photo: From Embassy Facebook Page