Netanyahu on Iran: 'We don't beg; we prepare' Asked in a news interview whether, if re-elected, he could promise that by the end of his term Iran would not have a nuclear weapon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu answers with a resounding "Yes."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he is not eager to go to war with Iran, but is willing and able to do so if necessary, according to an interview with the prime minister aired on Monday.

Netanyahu said, "I'm not eager for war. If the issue can be solved with international pressure, or if someone else can do it for us — great. When we didn't have a state or an army, our enemies threatened and then carried out genocide. We Jews begged help from others. Today, we don't beg; we prepare."

Asked whether, if re-elected, he could promise that by the end of that term Iran would not have a nuclear weapon, Netanyahu answered with a resounding "Yes."

Netanyahu also responded to claims that he would not dare attack Iran and would hesitate to “push the red button”: "Of course I am capable if I have to. Though I hope I don't."

The prime minister was interviewed as part of the Channel 2 news program "Uvda" ("Fact"), which was aired on Monday night. The program focused largely on a 2010 meeting between Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, then Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. (res) Gabi Ashkenazi and then Mossad Chief Meir Dagan, during which Netanyahu and Barak reportedly ordered the Israel Defense Forces and spy chiefs to prepare for a military strike in Iran. The IDF reportedly responded that it was not prepared to carry out the mission.

In the interview, Netanyahu would not discuss the meeting. "I will not refer to a specific meeting,” he said. “But even if the things presented are inaccurate, in the end the responsibility falls on the prime minister."

Barak and former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert were also interviewed for the program about the 2010 meeting. Barak said the intention of the order had been to be prepared, not necessarily to go to war.

"The supposition that you can't decide to do something if the chief of staff recommends not doing it, even if it can be done operationally, is completely unfounded. It can be carried out even if it's against his recommendation," Barak said.

In the program Olmert and Barak traded accusations on the handling of the Iran issue.

"Certain operations were backed down from, due to external factors," Olmert said. "I would have preferred that overall responsibility for these matters would be in someone other than Barak's hands, and that the appointed official above him would be someone who could slam his fist on the table and say, 'That is what we can and cannot do,' which I believe is not the case right now."

Olmert also said a military strike on Iran was something that would have to be done with consent from the U.S.

Barak responded that Olmert required "observation and guidance when dealing with national affairs," and cited the Winograd Report on Israel's conduct in the 2006 Lebanon War when Olmert was prime minister.

In his interview, Netanyahu said, "If someone opposes [an Israeli action], does that mean we have to just sit on our hands? Anyone sitting in this [prime minister's] chair, who requires approval by others to operate, is not fit to lead."

The Channel 2 report stated that as far as Ashkenazi and Dagan were concerned, the order in 2010 to prepare for an imminent attack had not been processed through the proper channels, and the two did not hesitate to offer their reservations: "This isn't something you do if you're not certain you will eventually want to carry it out," the former chief of staff told Netanyahu.

Those close to Ashkenazi said he was concerned that merely ordering the IDF to a state of P-Plus, preparation for war, even while refraining from an immediate attack, could lead to war: "It's like an accordion that makes music even if it is merely handled," he said at the time.

Dagan, according to those present at the time, was even harsher than Ashkenzai: "You [speaking to Barak and Netanyahu] are possibly making an unlawful decision to go to war. Only the cabinet is authorized to make such a decision."

Dagan later explained, "The prime minister and defense minister simply tried to steal a war."

According to Barak, who was speaking publicly for the first time about the meeting, Ashkenazi told him that it was not possible to implement P-Plus because the army did not have the proper operational capability.

It was not clear whether the IDF was indeed incapable of carrying out an attack at the time, but as far as Barak was concerned, Ashkenazi failed to prepare the option and the command could not be executed.

In private discussions, Ashkenazi has vehemently objected to the defense minister's version: "Barak isn't telling the truth. I prepared the option, the army was ready for an attack, but I said that attacking now would be a strategic mistake."

Barak and Netanyahu have since signaled that an attack on Iran was not imminent. In September, Netanyahu told the United Nations that Iran would be on the brink of nuclear weapons' capability only in the spring or summer of 2013.

Barak said last week that Iran had pulled back on its nuclear program, which has given Israel more time to contemplate its next steps.