Hotovely says ‘all-out war will happen’ if Israel does not respond to Iranian missiles

Israeli ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely has said “all-out war will happen” in the Middle East if Israel does not respond to Iran after their latest missile attack.

Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme  Hotovely was asked for her view on Israel’s likely response to Tuesday evening’s onslaught.

She replied: “As much as we will not respond, all-out war will happen. If we want to prevent all-out war we must make sure the red line is clear to the Iranians, and when they cross it, they pay the price.

“So all Israeli actions are preventing all-out war, we are not creating it, because we are responding to the aggression of the Iranian regime.”

She continued:”We will make sure Iran won’t have the capabilities to hurt Israeli people.”

Later in a Sky News appearance, the ambassador praised the response of the UK government to Tuesday’s attack.Hotovely noted how Keir Starmer was in regular dialogue with Benjamin Netanyahu, while Defence Secretary John Healey and Foreign Secretary David Lammy were both speaking to their counter[arts in Israel.

She said:”The system works very well together, Britain is an ally of Israel.”

Later, Hotovely stressed Israel’s position as a democracy in the region: “We are surrounded by jihadi ideology terror organisations and we need to make sure they get the message,” she said.