IIsrael’s leaders met today during a war cabinet meeting to discuss the country’s response after Iran launched a combination of 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles and 120 ballistic missiles towards Israeli soil in the early hours of the morning. of Sunday. It was the first time that the Islamic Republic, long hostile to the Israeli state, directly attacked Israel after decades of proxy conflict.
Iran claims its attack was launched in response to an April 1 Israeli attack on an Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, which killed a senior member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps along with eight other officers. So far, Iran’s attack appears to have caused minimal damage. No deaths were reported, although a 7-year-old child appears to be in a life-threatening condition after shrapnel from an intercepted Iranian missile fell directly on his home.
Israel had the support of American, British and French partners who helped it thwart “99% of Iranian air threats.” IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said. Jordan also intercepted some of the Iranian projectiles that flew over its territory, despite fiercely criticizing Israel’s war in Gaza, which has killed at least 33,00 people including 13,000 children.
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International Pressure
The US has urged Israel not to retaliate to avoid escalating the situation into a wider regional war. “Slow things down and think about it [how to respond],” Biden was quoted telling Netanyahu according to a Washington Post report. He also told Netanyahu that Israel should be satisfied with its successful response and leave it at that. “You achieved a victory. Win victory,” Biden said according to Axios. Leaders in France and Britain called on Israel to hold back, fearing the destabilizing consequences of a wider war.
Hisham Hellyer, senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, says Israel’s response will be heavily based on whether or not the US penalizes them for acting too forcefully. “[It depends on] they think the United States has their back and won’t penalize them,” Hellyer says. “The reality is that the United States has enormous influence over Israel and has so far refused to use it.”
Israel receives approximately 68% of its weapons of foreign origin of the USA, in addition to at least $3 billion in military aid per annum. The US appeared to halt Israel’s actions in Gaza for the first time last month when President Biden refused to give the green light to an Israeli military operation in Rafahthe southernmost city of Gaza, with no guarantee that Palestinian civilians would be protected.
Israel’s Domestic Policy
However, Netanyahu faces strong pressure from Israel’s right-wing parties to retaliate against Iran. They argue that if Israel does not respond harshly, there will be nothing stopping the Islamic Republic from attacking again and seriously disrupting the lives of Israelis. “We must respond… so that rockets from Iran do not become routine like rockets from Gaza,” said Galit Distel Atbaryan, a member of the Israeli parliament who is part of Netanyahu’s Likud party. on Israeli television. Intercepting Iranian missiles and drones is extremely costly financially, and the Israelis are eager to prevent Iran from sending a similar barrage again.
For now, it appears that Israeli authorities are leaning towards some kind of non-immediate response. Yesterday, the Israeli Minister Benny Gantz said Israel would respond in some way, but did not specify how. “This episode is not over… We will build a regional coalition against the threat from Iran and demand a price from them at a time that suits us,” he said. Gantz is one of three members of Israel’s war cabinet, along with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The cabinet was established after the start of the war in Gaza and meets at least once every 48 hours.
During today’s latest meetingIt appeared that the war cabinet had reached the conclusion that it would respond to Iran, but had not yet reached agreement on the importance of the attack they would launch.
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Regional Dynamics
From a regional perspective, the attack was a reminder that despite the war in Gaza, Israel still has allies in the Arab world, says Yossi Mekelberg, an associate fellow at Chatham House who specializes in Middle East politics. “Iran has probably also received the message that if it tries to attack Israel, there will be a response not only from Israel but from its allies, including within the Arab world.”
Iran has long been engaged in a proxy conflict of sorts with Saudi Arabia as the two powers compete for dominance in the region. Although Israel is hated by much of the Arab world, several Arab countries have shown that they are willing to work with Israel on the issue of Iran in order to contain the Islamic Republic’s influence. The Wall Street Journal reported In addition to Jordan shooting down some of the missiles, several Gulf countries shared intelligence with the US and Israel about Iran’s drone and missile launches.
If Israel retaliated, Iran promised to respond with an even stronger response. “I emphasize that any new adventure against the interests of the Iranian nation will meet with a heavier and more regrettable response,” said Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. said on X.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
