Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Thursday that an Iranian attack on Israel would remove existing restraints on an Israeli response and open the way for strikes across Iran’s military, civilian and energy infrastructure.
“An Iranian attack on Israel will free Israel from every existing limitation on an attack against Iran,” Katz said at a Rosh Hashanah event with Defense Ministry employees.
“We will strike all of Iran’s national military and civilian infrastructure, including energy infrastructure, and send Iran deep back into the Stone Age and darkness,” he said.
Katz said Tehran may be increasingly vulnerable to internal pressure, arguing that economic strain and fears of unrest could push the regime toward desperate measures.
“The ayatollah regime in Iran knows very well why it does not attack Israel after we struck them forcefully twice, destroyed the nuclear program, eliminated Khamenei and severely damaged their strategic capabilities,” he said.
“But there are signs we are seeing that indicate that the heavy economic pressure they are under, and the fear of an uprising and the fall of the regime, could push them toward desperate measures.”
The comments come as Israel remains on heightened alert over the possibility that escalating U.S. pressure on Iran could spill into a direct confrontation.
Military Intelligence and the Air Force have completed preparations for defensive and offensive scenarios, including the possibility that renewed fighting between the United States and Iran could lead Tehran to target Israel.
The IDF has also updated its target bank in Iran and refined operational plans based on lessons from previous fighting.
IDF strikes on the Ali al-Taher ridge
Tensions are rising simultaneously on the northern front. Reuters reported Thursday that Iran had warned the United States against a full-scale Israeli assault on the Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon, where Lebanese security sources say Hezbollah has underground command facilities and weapons stores.
Three officials briefed on the message told Reuters that Tehran threatened a large-scale response if Israel moved to storm the ridge. Two said more than a dozen members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including at least two senior officers, were believed to be there alongside Hezbollah fighters.
The White House rejected the claim that Washington had pressured Israel not to attack the ridge, telling Reuters: “This is not accurate.”
The IDF has described Ali al-Taher as one of its “primary operational focuses.” Hezbollah, meanwhile, has said it controls the position and would resist any Israeli advance.
Katz said Israel was prepared for any further escalation.
“Israel is well prepared, defensively and offensively, for every possibility,” he said. “The IDF is ready to carry out the mission.”