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Israel has no plans to attack Iran, Syria: Dy PM
Israel's Deputy PM Shimon Peres noted that the Jewish state already had its 'hands full' with Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
Israel is not planning to attack Iran or Syria, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said, noting that the Jewish state already had its "hands full" with Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
It is up to the international community to tackle Tehran, Peres told BBC television in an interview broadcast on Tuesday night.
Asked whether his country would hit Syria or Iran, he said: "No, I don't think they will attack us... And we shall not attack them because I think Iran is a world problem."
He continued: "It is not for us to deal with. We don't want to convert it into an Iranian-Israeli conflict. We have our hands full anyway."
Israel has accused Iran and Syria of arming Hezbollah and Hamas militants with the guns and bullets that are aimed at the Jewish state.
"The missiles, the rockets. All of them are coming either from Iran or Syria," Peres said.
He defended his government's decision to strike Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon and Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.
"We would not attack Lebanon either, we wouldn't attack even Hezbollah, we wouldn't attack even Hamas if they wouldn't attack us and they wouldn't provoke," he said.
"It is not our choice it is our lack of alternative that brought us to this confrontation."
Peres was speaking as the crisis in Lebanon entered its second week, with Israel's bombardment showing no sign of letting up.
In addition, Israel has been operating inside the Gaza Strip for three weeks since June 28, when troops rolled back into the territory in a bid to retrieve a soldier abducted by militants and halt rocket attacks.
