Welcome to Hard Talk from the BBC World Service with me, Stephen Saka. My guest in this interview

recorded on the 31st of July is Ohad Tal, an influential member of Israel's religious Zionism party,

one of the far-right nationalist parties in Prime Minister Netanyahu's governing coalition.

The far right in Israel has significant leverage.

Right now, they're calling for the Israeli military to deliver an overwhelming blow to the country's

enemies, a call which chimes with events of the last few days. We have seen what looks like

two Israeli targeted assassinations, one of a Hezbollah

in Beirut, the other of a Hamas leader in Tehran. Amid vows of retribution, not least from Iran,

Israel's far right is adamant that the military operation in Gaza must continue until Hamas has been

entirely eliminated. Their refusal to countenance a ceasefire and a deal to get the remaining

Israeli hostages out of Gaza has exposed a fault line within Israel, a fault line further deepened

by the far right's willingness to take direct

action in support of military personnel accused of serious abuse of Palestinian prisoners. In short,

Israel is facing the possibility of a multi-front military escalation with political fragmentation on the home front.

Is that a healthy place to be?

Well, Ohadthal joins me now on the line from Jerusalem.

Welcome to Hard Talk.

Hello, Stephen.

Thank you very much for having me.

Yeah, it's a pleasure to have you on Hard Talk.

The world has just seen two

carefully targeted assassinations, one of a Hezbollah commander in Beirut, the second of the

...