"Could Have Inflicted Much More Damage": Israel Envoy To NDTV After Iran Strikes

Israel wants peace in the region but is not ready to be attacked by Iran directly or indirectly, the country's Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, has said. 

Speaking exclusively to NDTV on Saturday, Mr Azar said this was one of the signals that his country wanted to send with its strikes on Iran earlier in the day and the other message is that it has the capability to hit many more targets in Iran if Tehran chooses to escalate. 

"What Israel did is a very precise strike that took out Iran's air defence systems, and targeted military installations connected to their missile and drone programmes. The signal here is very clear: Israel will not agree to continue to be attacked by Iran either directly or indirectly," the ambassador said, hinting at Iran's proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah, with which Israel is already engaged in conflicts. 

Iran had earlier launched 200 ballistic missiles at Israeli targets on October 1.

Claiming that Iran is now exposed, Mr Azar said Israel is not worried about comments from the regime in Tehran warning of a "proportionate reaction" to the Israeli strike.

"We are ready for it. We are completely coordinating with our allies, especially the United States, which is completely backing our moves. It is very clear that Israel could have done much more to inflict damage on Iran but it chose to limit its response out of responsibility because we want to stay focused on this operation that the Israeli cabinet has determined - to completely eradicate the military capabilities of Hamas, to bring back our hostages and make sure Hamas doesn't rearm," the ambassador said.

In the north, where Israel shares a border with Lebanon, the ambassador said that the objective is to resettle Israeli communities in the areas from which they were evacuated because of attacks from Hezbollah.

"We are operating there as well, we have uprooted the military infrastructure that Hezbollah has created there for decades. And we will not agree that Iran will try to intervene in that and attack Israel. If they continue doing that, Israel will feel free to act in a much more decisive manner," he warned.

'Will Pay The Price'

To a question on whether Israel is locked in a never-ending war, Mr Azar said while that may seem to be the case, his country is defending itself and has created a situation in which Hamas can no longer attack it with missiles and the leadership of Hezbollah has been eliminated - and it is now for Iran to "accept the new reality".

"If they don't accept the new reality and come to the table to create a more stable situation in our region, they will pay the price," he said. 

The ambassador said routes of diplomacy are always available and insisted that Israel did not start the war, which began after the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas. 

"We want to restore peace in our region. We are prepared for diplomacy, but it has to lay on the foundation of the understanding of the other side that Israel will be relentless. We will not rest until we are sure that assurances for our security are met and we will maintain the right to self-defence against any aggression in the future," he said.

'Downplaying Is Good'

On Iran claiming that the Israeli attack caused limited damage and its defence systems worked, Mr Azar said he was happy that Tehran was "downplaying" it because it could be a sign that it was not interested in continuing the aggression.

"Anybody that knows something about military capabilities knows that the S-300 (air defence system) that the Iranians have is not capable of stopping the F-35s and the F-16s of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and not capable of stopping our pilots from hitting any targets they want. So they can continue saying what they want but the situation is very clear and the message has been conveyed in a very clear way," he said.