ISRAEL WEIGHS STRIKE ON IRAN
Looks to `send a message' but not cause casualties
• Israel's war cabinet deliberated Monday on how to respond to Iran's unprecedented aerial assault without rankling international allies and squandering an opportunity to build a strategic international alliance against Tehran.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked the Israel Defense Forces to provide target options, according to an official familiar with highlevel discussions, who said Israel is looking at options that would “send a message” but not cause casualties.
Those options include a potential strike on a facility in Tehran or a cyberattack, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
“Everybody agrees that Israel must respond,” the official said. “How to respond, when to respond, is the question.”
The United States, United Nations and Israel's European and regional allies have all called for restraint following the Iranian barrage of more than 300 drones and missiles overnight Saturday.
The five-hour onslaught — which was a response to a deadly Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria this month — caused limited damage after being repelled by an international alliance including the United States, France and Britain, with assistance from countries in the Middle East.
That presents Israel with a model for coordination against Iran alongside what analysts describe as an unprecedented strategic opportunity for Israel to return to the international fold after frictions over its war against Hamas.
But it is still an opportunity they said Israel could waste if it miscalculates its response.
“This is an opportunity to create a new American-led regional security alignment against Iran if we can take advantage of it,” said Chuck Freilich, former deputy head of Israel's National Security Council and a senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.
“Who would ever have thought that we would be part of a coalition that included the U.K. and France and Jordan and maybe other Arab countries?”
The success of Israel's air defences and the allied response in repelling the attack, which caused only one serious injury, means that Israel can act from a position of confidence rather than one of panic, he added.
European leaders on Monday reiterated their concerns about the potential for the regional security situation to spiral. “The right thing to do is not to escalate,” British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said in a BBC interview. “We are urging them as friends to think with head as well as heart, to be smart as well as tough, and to recognize that Iran suffered this defeat, because the attack was a failure.”
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed similar sentiments. “We are all worried about a possible escalation,” he told French radio.
U.S. officials have also emphasized to Israel that they won't participate in any Israeli response amid fears that it could lead to a wider regional war. Israeli officials said they were mindful of the concerns.
“Our allies do not want us to go for an over-the-top response and we want to work with our allies, especially after the success we enjoyed with them,” the Israeli official said. “We don't have to have cause casualties, but it's important that we do respond, because it sends a message to all those who want to harm us.”
A strike will do little to help Israel in its battle against Tehran's proxies in the region and concerns over its nuclear program, said Yair Golan, former deputy IDF chief of staff.
“On different levels of intensity, Israel has been fighting Iran for years,” he said. “It will not stop tomorrow or the next day. And it will not stop if Israel reacts right now.”
Israel should focus on its long-term goals by leveraging the energy behind an emerging new alliance against Iran, he said.
“We cannot be confused here. Iran has escalated the war,” he explained. “But Israel needs to act smartly in order to strengthen the regional and global front against them.”
The Hamas-led assault on Oct. 7, which killed 1,200 in Israel, shattered the sense of security for citizens of Israel. Among the Israeli public, the success in repelling Saturday's attack restored some national confidence and lessened a sense of international
IT WAS LIKE THE WORLD REMEMBERED THAT WE ARE THE ONES UNDER ATTACK FOR A MINUTE.
isolation.
“I think we did avoid something terrible Saturday night,” said Yosef Levy, a student buying groceries in Jerusalem on Saturday. “It was like the world remembered that we are the ones under attack for a minute. I hope it changes something, I hope it ends the war. But I don't think anything can change until our hostages are back with their families.”
There has been little progress on a deal, with Hamas over the weekend rejecting the latest offer from Israel for at least a temporary pause in its offensive in exchange for the release of hostages.