Vilnai: We know how to handle Iran threat

Deputy defense minister tells reserve soldiers nuclear threat 'not only our problem'
Hanan Greenberg

War of words continues: Israel knows how to handle the nuclear threat posed by Iran, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai told reserve soldiers at an IDF base Tuesday.

"This is not only our problem; it includes foreign agencies, intelligence, and the Air Force," Vilnai said. "We know how to do it."

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One of the soldiers asked Vilnai whether Israel was doing anything to counter the Iranian threat aside from the large-scale Air Force exercise reported several days ago.

The deputy defense minister avoided a direct answer. "Wherever you operate," he told the infantry troops, "it needs to be successful…the main threat faced by the State of Israel is the Hizbullah-Syria-Iran axis, and their common denominator is radical Islam."

"The talks with Syria are meant to break the axis of evil," Vilnai added. "It is possible that any attack in one place or another would prompt a flare-up, and everyone in the army has their job – your job is ground combat. We know who to utilize, where, and in what way."

In respect to the Gaza Strip, Vilnai made it clear that the current truce in the area was fragile, and added that Hamas continues to smuggle arms into Gaza through the Philadelphi Route.

'The Egyptians are undertaking greater efforts than in the past (to curb the smuggling,) but they're not really successful," he said.