Israeli Minister: Iran ‘Legitimate Target’ for Missile Strikes:

Israel’s Minister of Economy Nir Barkat hinted at a possible expansion of war in the Middle East by reportedly saying Wednesday that Iran is a “legitimate target” for Israeli missile strikes.

The risk of war spreading has increased since Iranian-backed Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack in southern Israel. As Israel fights to destroy Hamas in the Gaza Strip and rescue about 136 Israelis still held hostage, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have been firing rockets and drones at U.S. Navy and commercial vessels in the Red Sea, and Iranian-backed Hezbollah has been firing rockets and drones from Lebanon into northern Israel.

“Iran is a legitimate target for Israel,” Barkat told The Telegraph. “They will not get away with it. The head of the snake is Tehran. My recommendation is to adopt the strategy that President [John F.] Kennedy used in the Cuban missile crisis. What he basically said then was a missile from Cuba will be answered with a missile to Moscow.

“And we should very, very clearly make sure the Iranians understand that they will not get away with using proxies against Israel and sleep good at night if we don’t sleep good at night.”

Barkat said Israel has “an open bill” with Iran, meaning the Islamic Republic, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, has a debt that needs repaying.

He said, “We believe them when they say they want to destroy Israel. If anything, what we have learned from Oct. 7 is believe our enemies and the wickedness in their evil, their goals, thoughts and actions and we are not going to allow another Holocaust.

“Jihadists want to kill all non-Muslims. We may be first in line, but we are all in the same line. They call Israel Little Satan and Big Satan is the U.S., and everyone else is in the middle.”

The Washington Post reported Jan. 19 that Israel told the U.S. in late December that if a long-term border agreement cannot be reached with Lebanon over the next several weeks, Israel will escalate its fight with Hezbollah. Israel has evacuated cities in its north, and on Thursday, it reportedly conducted a series of strikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, including an airstrip it said was built by Iran and used to launch drones.

“The threat of Hezbollah must be eliminated,” Barkat said.

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