WarSclerotic

Israelis reacted positively on Wednesday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s declaration that Israel was ready to stand alone to deny Iran an atomic weapon.

In a combative address to the U.N. General Assembly, Netanyahu on Tuesday dismissed a charm offensive by Iranian President Hasan Rouhani as a ruse concocted by a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” and assailed the trustworthiness of Iran’s centrist president who has made diplomatic overtures to the United States and spoke by telephone last week with President Barack Obama.

Israeli Ami Gat told Reuters Television in Jerusalem that he is convinced that Israel is willing and capable of attacking Iran on its own “if necessary.”

“I am not a big fan of Bibi [Netanyahu], but the speech was excellent. And I say, as someone who grew up here, if we need to do this on our own, we’ll do it, we won’t have a choice,” Gat said.

Jerusalem resident Bracha, echoing a similar sentiment said: “If we need to fight alone, we will do to it, because we have not another choice.”

Netanyahu’s address, the last at this year’s gathering of world leaders in New York, reflected Israeli worries that the emerging signs of what could become a U.S.-Iranian rapprochement might lead to a premature easing of international sanctions and military threats designed to deny Iran the means to make a bomb.

Meanwhile, in the city of Beit Shemesh, Israeli soldiers conducted a drill to simulate a chemical attack on the country. Soldiers dressed in chemical suits gave first aid to civilians and evacuated the “wounded” on stretchers.

“Today we are taking part in a drill that simulates a Syrian chemical missile landing [in Israel]. The drill is being carried out together with the Magen David Adom emergency medical service and the Homefront Command. As a result of the missile landing, many dozens of people have been hurt and evacuated by Magen David Adom ambulances to hospitals in Jerusalem,” ambulance service official David Koren told Reuters Television.