Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may believe that the country’s future depends on defeating distant enemies like Iran, but no matter how this conflict plays out, Israelis and Palestinians will continue to live side by side, and even this tumultuous year will not that has changed. The Economist writes about this.
Bloodshed in the Middle East is expanding rapidly; Israel appears certain to respond to Iran’s missile attack, the magazine believes.
On October 7, 2023, an attack on Israel by Hamas killed more than 1,100 people and took 250 more hostage. Over the next year, Israel not only fought nonstop with Hamas in Gaza, but also exchanged missile strikes with Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and the United States. Yemen. On September 30, he sent troops across the border into Lebanon to fight Hezbollah, which was bombing northern Israel. The next day, Iran, patron of Hamas and Hezbollah, fired a salvo of 181 rockets at Israel.
“When The Economist closed its edition, the region expected an inevitable Israeli retaliation. Israel is currently fighting wars on several fronts, and none of them have an end in sight,” the publication notes.
This is the second time this year that Iran has directly attacked Israel, the previous attack occurring on April 13. There is no doubt that Israeli retaliation this time will be much broader, the article says.
“There are three groups of possible targets. Israel can target Iranian leaders in the same way it killed most senior Hamas and Hezbollah officials. It could attack Iran’s infrastructure… In particular, attacks on oil terminals in Iran’s ports would stop the flow of its main exports and deprive the regime of much-needed cash… However, most tempting would be attacks on sites where Iran is believed to be developing nuclear weapons, something Israel has been thinking about for more than 20 years.” – writes the author.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been hoping for months to provoke Iran into carrying out an attack that would give Israel a pretext to attack nuclear facilities, Israeli officials say.
The threat to Israel from Iranian proxies has decreased dramatically. As a result, Iran’s primary means of deterring an Israeli attack—getting its allies to retaliate against Israel—no longer works. And the Iranian missile attacks, which we managed to repel with the help of our allies, are no longer as terrible as they were a few months ago. One of the few remaining obstacles in Israel’s path remains the hesitancy of its closest ally, the United States. In particular, the president joe biden He condemned the Iranian attack and stated that Israel has the right to self-defense, but on the other hand, he stressed that Israel’s response must be “proportionate” and opposed the idea of attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities.
However, Netanyahu has demonstrated time and again his willingness to ignore American objections, the author stresses.
“But even if Israel puts Iran and its allies on the defensive and the United States is unlikely to stop it, its ever-expanding war could still go wrong. First, there is no guarantee that an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear program will succeed… Furthermore, there are limits to what a country of 10 million people, already strained by a year-long war on several fronts, can do. .. (which) also hurts Israel’s economy… The prolonged absence of so many reservists hurts businesses of all kinds… Netanyahu promised the Israelis a “total victory,” but did not specify what this means in relation to with Gaza, much less with Lebanon or Iran. Netanyahu may believe that Israel’s future depends on victories over distant enemies like Iran, but no matter how this conflict plays out, Israelis and Palestinians will continue to live side by side. Not even the current year, the most stormy of all time, has changed this situation,” summarizes the author.
