Ehud Barak raised the prospect of military action with Iran once again as he hinted that splits in the international community over imposing sanctions regarded as crippling enough by Israel could leave the Jewish state with no option but to take matters into its own hands.
The warning came as a report by UN weapons inspectors into Iran's nuclear activities was made public, concluding that the Islamist regime is closer to building an atom bomb than ever before.
Mr Barak conceded that the price of air strikes against Iran would be high, with Iran retaliating by firing long-range missiles at Israeli cities and encouraging its allies Hizbollah and Hamas to unleash their vast rocket arsenals at the country.
But he insisted that claims of huge destruction in Israel were overblown and that the country could survive the retaliation.
"There is no way to prevent some damage," he said. "It will not be pleasant. There is no scenario for 50,000 dead, or 5,000 killed – and if everyone stays in their homes, maybe not even 500 dead."
Mr Barak said the International Atomic Energy Agency's report represents "the final opportunity" for the United Nations Security Council to punish Iran with sanctions of sufficient severity to force Iran into abandoning its nuclear ambitions.
Demanding that the international community finally take action to target Tehran's vital energy sector, he called for a naval blockade to prevent Iran exploiting oil.
Although such a measure would undoubtedly do serious harm to Iran's energy-dependent economy, even the United States is said to be concerned about the impact it would have on oil prices at a time of heightened vulnerability for the world economy.
Mr Barak predicted that opposition by Russia and China would make it impossible to achieve consensus in the Security Council for such sanctions, leaving military action increasingly as the only option.
"I don't think it will be possible to form such a coalition," he told Israeli radio.
"As long as no such sanctions have been imposed and proven effective, we continue to recommend to our friends in the world and to ourselves not to take any action off the table."
Mr Barak's comments crown a week of increasingly bellicose language in Israel that is widely seen as more an attempt to force the United Nations Security Council into using the toughest possible sanctions against Iran rather than presaging imminent military action.
Even so, his rhetoric will cause alarm, with Russia and even some European states warning against the folly of unilateral Israeli action.
Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister, said on Tuesday that though concerns remained high about Iran's nuclear programme, "we have to do everything we can to avoid the irreparable damage that military action would cause".
Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, said a military strike on Iran could be a "catastrophe" for the Middle East.
"We should exhale, calm down and continue a constructive discussion of all issues on the Middle East agenda, including the Iranian nuclear program," said Mr Medvedev, a day after an Asian security summit in St Petersburg that included Iran.
US officials said they hoped the IAEA report would increase leverage for tougher sanctions, rather than short term pressure for air strikes.
The "war camp" in the Israeli cabinet is believed to be in a minority that is championed primarily by Mr Barak and Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister.
But many Israeli politicians will agree with the defence minister's assertion that the IAEA report represents "the last opportunity for coordinated, lethal sanctions that will force Iran to stop".
Israel believes that Iran is intent on moving the bulk of its nuclear production underground within months, after which it will be harder than ever to launch effective military action.
The Telegraph
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