IDF chief says finger 'on the trigger' as Tehran threat looms over Middle East

Iran and Yemen’s Houthis will pay “an immediate and grave price” if they attack Israel in response to a potential US attack, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir and Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday. The IDF’s metaphorical finger was “on the trigger” if its enemies were to make any operational change, Zamir said. Katz cited Israel’s success at assassinating several senior Houthi officials as a down payment on what could be a much more severe response if the terrorist group were to attack Israel in response to an American attack against Iran.

The US would likely attack Iran eventually, but not necessarily in the coming days, despite the spike in global media “noise” surrounding the conflict, people familiar with the matter told The Jerusalem Post late Wednesday night. Israel’s impression is that US President Donald Trump hasnot yet decided on his final course of action, even if his disappointment in Iran’s negotiating positions this week made an eventual attack more likely, the sources indicated.

Many of the latest reports are viewed by some Israeli officials as global media noise that is based on the general impression from Trump administration officials coming out of this week’s negotiations as opposed to crossing the threshold. There has also been intense focus on whether Trump’s two-week deadline for Iran to return with a new offer can be compared to the two weeks last June. That turned out to be a fake and was cover for the US attack on the Fordow nuclear facility after only three days of the two-week deadline had passed. (Read More)