Olmert: Israel will suffer pain it has never experienced if a war breaks out with Hezbollah

Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has warned that Israel will suffer “great pain” if an all out war breaks out with Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

In an interview with CNN journalist Fareed Zakaria, Olmert said: “If there will be a comprehensive war in the north. It is likely Lebanon will disappear. There will be a mass destruction. We have the power to do it.”

He warned, however, that “at the same time, if Hezbollah will use all their powers, and they will use all their powers in the event of a comprehensive war, Israel will suffer great pain, greater than we ever suffered in the history of confrontations with our countries. In other words, there is not an interest for Israel and there is not an interest for Hezbollah to engage in a comprehensive war.”

Olmert said that the Israeli occupation state needs leadership with a completely different mentality from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who seeks only personal gain.

Adding that Netanyahu’s polling figures are in decline and support for him in Israel has waned.

He said, it is in Israel’s interest “to stop the war, to pull out from Gaza, of course to bring back all the Israeli hostages, and to be prepared to embark on a comprehensive peace process with the Palestinians.”

READ: Former premier says Israel can neither achieve victory in Gaza, nor destroy Hamas