Israel ‘won’t be destroyed’

Mr Barak said no decision had as yet been made to bomb Iran, but played down the consequences of an Iranian counterattack.

“If we arrive at a war against our will, there won’t be 100,000 dead or ten thousand dead or a thousand dead and Israel won’t be destroyed,” he said. But he dismissed reports that premier Benjamin Netanyahu had already decided to attack Iranian facilities as “delusional”.

He said: “[Israel] has not yet decided to embark on any operation.

“War is not a picnic. We want a picnic. We don’t want a war.”