Today, Monday, the Israeli Ministry of Defense requested an increase in its budget in preparation for the possibility of striking Iran, which underestimated the value of the threat, and confirmed at the same time its readiness to respond to any attack.
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority quoted unnamed security sources as saying that the Ministry of Defense is calling for an exceptional increase of 10 billion shekels ($2.8 billion) for its budget for the current and next years, an increase of 12% over the current budget.
The same sources explained that the reason is preparations for a possible military operation against Iran, and the erosion of the budget due to inflation.
However, the broadcasting authority quoted prominent economic sources - it did not name them - as saying that the demand is exaggerated to the extent that it is unrealistic.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set 3 goals for his government, including preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Earlier, the Israeli Army Chief of Staff, Aviv Kochavi, said that his forces had improved their readiness to strike Iranian nuclear targets, stressing that the level of preparation for an operation against Iran had improved significantly.
Over the past year, more than one Israeli official has announced that the army is preparing for a possible military strike against Iran if it reaches the threshold of acquiring nuclear weapons.
For his part, Iranian Assistant Foreign Minister Ali Reza Enayati said that the Israeli threats do not worry the Iranians, and that they are ready to respond to any aggression.
Enayati added - in a previous interview with Al-Jazeera - that his country welcomes the continuous efforts of neighboring countries in efforts to revive the nuclear agreement.
He made it clear that Iran supports reaching a nuclear agreement that guarantees its legitimate interests in nuclear energy.