"If Iran gives an order to launch missiles [into Israel] from Lebanon, we must attack Tehran," former Jerusalem mayor and current Likud MK Nir Barkat told Israel Hayom's Editor-in-Chief Boaz Bismuth, at the Israeli-American Council conference in Florida on Saturday.
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Barkat, who is currently in the United States on a public diplomacy tour, stressed that "when we talk about the Iranian threat, we are all one people – the opposition and the coalition in Israel as well as the US. Iran is governed by a radical Islamic regime that wants to obtain nuclear weapons in order to use them, that is their goal. There's no point in talking to people who want to push you into the sea."
Barkat added, "We also need to be aware of the existing threat. There are about 250,000 missiles around our borders. We need to tell the Iranian regime that for every missile fired at Israel from one of its proxies, our target will be Tehran. We need to be prepared for the first war with Iran, and the only way to prevent a war is to prepare for it seriously. The Iranians need to understand that we will attack forcefully. I want them to be afraid before they press the button to attack Israel."
In the last few months, Barkat led the efforts to prevent the reopening of the United States' Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem. He garnered the support of 200 members of Congress who sent a letter to President Joe Biden opposing the move. In addition, 36 senators submitted a bill to block the reopening.
"Opening the consulate would divide Jerusalem, and that is why we will never let that happen," Barkat said.
With regard to internal Israeli politics, the lawmaker said, "When we [Likud] return to power, we will promote Israel much faster, because the [current] government has no vision. There are elements from the Left, the Right, Arabs, they have completely different angles. We need a government with a clear vision to promote the Golan, the Negev, the Galilee and Judea and Samaria."
When asked about the polls that predict his victory in the Likud leadership race after Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu, Barkat said, "I am part of the Likud, and we are a democratic party in a democratic state. For me, the day Netanyahu decides to leave, primaries will open and I will run and win."
Barkat was also asked whether Netanyahu constitutes an asset or a burden for the Likud now, to which he replied, "I said before that we are a democratic party and we are a democratic state, so the people who need to determine assets or burdens are the Likudniks and the people of Israel – they will decide. They are the ones who decide at every election, as they did last time, and whatever they decide, we will accept."
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