BICOM

How has Iran threatened Israel?

• The Iranian regime is ideologically opposed to Israel’s existence and its leaders routinely call for its destruction. President Rouhani has described Israel as a cancer.

How does Iran pose a direct threat to Israeli security?

• Iran actively opposes Israel, Palestinian moderates, and the Middle East peace process. It positions itself as the regional leader of radical anti-Western and anti-Israel forces, supporting the Assad regime, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and armed Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip.
• Iran arms, trains and supports armed groups that operate against Israel and Jewish targets.

Palestinian armed groups

• In March 2014 Israel captured the Klos-C ship carrying advanced missiles with a range of 100-200km from Iran to Gaza. These heavy missiles would have put most of Israel’s population in range.
• In March 2011 the Israeli Navy captured the Victoria, and in January 2002 the Karine-A, both carrying tonnes of weaponry from Iran to the Gaza Strip.
• Iran has long backed Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian armed groups. Hundreds of rockets fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip were supplied by Iran. Iran-Hamas relations were strained when Hamas refused to support Assad in Syria, but the ties remain.

Hezbollah

• Established in Lebanon by Iran in the 1980s, Hezbollah is committed to Iran’s agenda.
• Iran supplies Hezbollah’s massive arsenal of short and medium range rockets, estimated at over 60,000 rockets, as well as more advanced weapons. Hezbollah fired 4000 rockets at Israel during the 2006 Second Lebanon War, killing 44 civilians and injuring more than 1400.
• Hezbollah plays a major role in Lebanon’s coalition government. It uses its independent armed forces to intimidate internal opposition.

• Iran and its allies attack Israeli and Jewish targets around the world. In February 2012, Iranian agents were believed responsible for attacks on Israeli diplomats in Georgia, Thailand and India. Iranian client Hezbollah was responsible for a bombing in Bulgaria in July 2012, killing five Israeli tourists and their driver. Iran is believed responsible for the 1992 attack on the Israeli Embassy in Argentina and on the Argentine Jewish communal building in 1994. The bombings killed 116.

How would nuclear weapons increase the threat Iran poses to Israel?

• Iran already has missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads that can reach Israel.
• If Iran acquired nuclear weapons, Israel would be in the shadow of a power which openly called for its destruction, and would have the theoretical capacity to carry it out. Analysts debate whether Iran would use a nuclear weapon against Israel, but any such possibility constitutes an unbearable threat. Much of Israel’s population and industry are concentrated in its coastal plane, and would be affected by a single strike.
• There is the chance of nuclear crises born out of miscalculation. This risk is exacerbated by the hostility between Iran and Israel, the Israeli perception of an existential threat, and the lack of any direct communication channels.
• An Iranian nuclear weapon would be likely to further embolden them in their violent actions against Israel and their support for armed extremists on Israel’s borders.
• Iran could in the future provide nuclear weapons to proxies. This would be a way for Iran to deploy a nuclear device whilst denying involvement.

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