Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that the biggest threat to Israel is Iran's possession of nuclear weapons, which requires it to increase its readiness and expand force-building, at a time when the Vienna negotiations to revive the Iranian nuclear deal are nearing their end.

Gantz's statement came in a speech during a military ceremony at the Dayan base in the Glilot area near Tel Aviv, according to what was reported by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

Minister Gantz said that there are a number of challenges and threats facing Israel, "but the biggest of them is Iran's arming with nuclear weapons. We have no choice but to expand the building of power, continue to rely on the human element, and adapt our tools and programs."

budget increaseميزان

In a related context, the official Israeli channel Kan reported yesterday evening that the Israeli army asked the government for additional billions of shekels (one dollar equals 3.28 Israeli shekels) in its upcoming budget, in order to prepare for attacks on Iran to prevent the development of its nuclear capabilities.

Israel is preparing for the possibility that the great powers will not be able to reach a new nuclear agreement with Tehran in the coming period, according to the Israeli channel. Six rounds of Vienna negotiations between the signatories to the Iranian nuclear agreement, in addition to America, failed to overcome the obstacles to reviving the 2015 agreement. Washington withdrew from it in 2018.

Current Israeli estimates indicate that Iran is less than a year away from acquiring nuclear weapons, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.

government meeting

Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett chaired a special meeting to discuss developments in the ongoing nuclear talks in Vienna, where Israel has been active in recent months on several fronts to pressure Iran and persuade the United States to impose more sanctions on it. However, Haaretz newspaper quoted An Israeli official - whom she described as a big one - said that Tel Aviv can no longer influence the content and spirit of the nuclear agreement, which the great powers are working to conclude with Iran.

Since last April, indirect negotiations between Iran and America have been taking place in the Austrian capital, to agree on how to return to the nuclear agreement, which Iran signed with the United States, France, Britain, China, Russia and Germany, and provides for the abolition of international sanctions on Tehran in return for imposing severe restrictions on its nuclear program. To ensure its peaceful character.