Netanyahu lobbied for military action on Iran as early as 2009, former Pentagon chief says

Former US defence secretary Robert Gates has recalled a 2009 conversation in which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued that Iran’s government would quickly collapse if attacked militarily.

Speaking on CBS programme Face the Nation, Gates said Netanyahu believed the Iranian regime was weak and would “crumble at the first attack”.

Gates said he strongly disagreed with the assessment at the time.

“I told Netanyahu he was ‘dead wrong’,” Gates said, adding that the Israeli leader underestimated “the resilience of the Iranians”.

The former CIA director linked Netanyahu’s thinking to previous Israeli military operations in the Middle East, including the 1981 strike on Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor and the 2007 attack on a suspected Syrian nuclear site.

According to Gates, those operations may have contributed to what he described as an “unrealistic position” regarding how Iran would react to military action.

The comments come amid renewed global focus on tensions involving Iran, Israel and the United States following recent regional conflict and diplomatic fallout.

Netanyahu has long warned against Iran’s nuclear ambitions and has repeatedly pushed for tougher action against Tehran over the years.

Gates served as US defence secretary under both George W Bush and Barack Obama.