Israeli army chief privately warns of cost of new war with Iran: Report

Israel's army chief Eyal Zamir has privately warned about the devastating consequences of a potential war with Iran as an increased US military presence in the region raises the risk of a multi-front escalation.

Zamir has chosen to remain publicly silent about the potential consequences for Israel’s security if the United States were to launch an aggression against Iran, Israel’s Ynet reported on Thursday.

In closed-door discussions, however, Zamir has presented and emphasized to the political leadership the implications and risks of such a campaign, it added.

“The military are careful not to brief on the matter, amid pressure from the political echelon not to make public the implications and risks of the move," the Israeli outlet reported, referring to pressure being put on the army by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s regime.

There is a belief in Israeli army circles that a US-Israeli escalation could lead to a “war of attrition” that would include devastating Iranian missile strikes on Israeli occupied territories.

"Such a war of attrition could last for many months, with the primary cost carried by the Israeli economy," the report said.

The report further warned that missiles could also be fired at Israeli targets from Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq following any US aggression.

Earlier this week, Netanyahu, during a briefing in the Knesset, said that “we are in very complex and challenging times.”

The Israeli public is anxious that any new war might see even greater destruction inside Israeli settlements than that caused in June last year.

All the while, the Israeli army is doing nothing, according to Ynet, to reassure the public, as "the constant stream of reports about yet another US aircraft landing in Israel and another destroyer entering the Mediterranean only further heightens the Israeli anxiety."

On Thursday Israeli outlet Haaretz spoke with several Israeli citizens who are still struggling to return to normal life after being impacted by last year’s war.

According to Haaretz, hundreds of Israeli settlers have still not returned to their settlement units eight months on from the 12-day war between Israel and Iran.

Trump’s military buildup against Iran on Netanyahu’s behalf is a gambit doomed to fail

Trump’s war rhetoric against Iran amid nuclear talks, pushed by Netanyahu, risks regional conflagration, exposes US military overreach and internal fractures, and would ultimately accelerate American decline.

The developments come as US President Donald Trump has markedly escalated his routinely warlike rhetoric concerning Iran, besides ordering a significant military buildup in the West Asia region, including around the Islamic Republic.

The hostile posturing has seen Washington deploy two aircraft carriers as well as numerous warplanes and missile systems in the region.

The saber-rattling and muscle-flexing comes although the two sides have headed into a third round of fresh indirect nuclear talks in the Swiss city of Geneva.

Earlier, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said an agreement on outstanding issues was possible, but emphasized that the country’s Armed Forces are ready. 

“The aim is to prevent a war. When you are prepared for a war, you can prevent it,” he said.

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