Israel should have seized Iran's uranium during Operation Roaring Lion, Gallant says

We should have gone and brought the enriched uranium by force in a military operation during the campaign. That would have uprooted the nuclear program from Iran, he said.

Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated in a Monday interview with 103FM that Israel ought to have pursued an alternate course against Iran's nuclear efforts throughout Operation Roaring Lion.

We should have gone and brought the enriched uranium by force in a military operation during the campaign. That would have uprooted the nuclear program from Iran, he said.

The combined capacity of US and Israeli forces was present, and that step should have been executed. It carries danger and potential costs, yet it represents a necessary risk for Israel's security.

Gallant noted that Israel now faces a delicate position and must avoid pursuing unrealistic aims or overlooking fresh strategic openings.

If instead you put the effort into a fantasy plan to change the regime in ways that have no chance, you are wasting the only bullet you have in the magazine, he said. You are endangering soldiers and bringing the State of Israel into a reality in which missiles are being fired at it, all in order to achieve a strategic goal. If you did not achieve it, you did nothing.

Gallant: Israel failed to turn military success into strategic action

Gallant further contended that Israel did not convert its battlefield gains into political advantages, noting the nation fell short in transforming military wins into broader strategic moves.

In Israel's case, there is only one goal for which you need to go to war against Iran, to stop the nuclear program. That did not happen. The fantasy goal of changing the regime from the air and through all kinds of questionable forces did not happen.

Per Gallant, the political leadership, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, bears responsibility for the current state.

If the political echelon, meaning the prime minister, approves certain objectives for the army and the army fully meets them, the fact that you have no strategic achievement means you approved the wrong objectives. To boast about the achievements of the Air Force is not the prime minister's role. His role is to bring about a political achievement.

Israeli deterrence against Iranian missiles is weak, Gallant says

Gallant highlighted a notable weakening of Israeli deterrence, including tolerance for hostile barrages, risks to civilians, and diminished command over response scale.

We have reached a situation in which we are absorbing dribbles of missile fire of 400 kilos that can kill dozens of civilians, and we are responding with a weak reaction. That is impossible. We were in a situation that was agreed during my time, after we destroyed the missile array, killed Nasrallah, and eliminated the senior Radwan commanders and activated the pagers, in which we could strike anywhere in Lebanon. Hezbollah was on the ropes, he said.

From that situation, in which we could strike at any moment with full freedom of action, we reached a situation in which it is forbidden to strike, he continued. We actually collapsed the equation concept. They attack, and we respond. When you strike the entire Iranian leadership on February 28, one minute later, you need to attack everything there is in Lebanon. If you do not do that, you are inviting war on two fronts.

At the close of the interview, Gallant replied no when asked about appearing in upcoming elections.