Israeli Prime Minister's OfficeIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his advisers pictured during a phone call with President Biden on Wednesday.
US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a much-anticipated 30-minute phone conversation. This appears to be the first contact since August. That included talks about Israel’s intended retaliation for last week’s Iranian missile attack.
The White House said the conversation was “direct” and “productive” and said Biden and Netanyahu had agreed to continue “close contact” in the coming days. Vice President Kamala Harris also participated in the call.
Shortly after, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel’s attack on Iran would be “deadly, precise, and above all surprising.”
There are two forces at work. One is that Joe Biden is unwilling to get into a war with Iran, which the United States considers unnecessary and dangerous.
Another is that some in Israel feel strongly that they have a chance to deliver a body blow to their mortal enemy, Iran.
Israel’s attack on Hezbollah energized Israelis who were desperate to break free from a fierce war of attrition on the Lebanese border.
To them, Lebanon felt like success and progress, in stark contrast to their position in Gaza.
Despite Israel’s attack on Gaza killing at least 42,000 people, most of them civilians, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has failed to achieve his twin war goals: annihilating Hamas and recapturing hostages.
Hamas is still fighting and still holds about 100 hostages, many of whom may be dead.
The damage inflicted on Israel’s enemies Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza has created an urgent conviction among some Israelis to go further and launch a direct attack on Iran.
For them, a devastating airstrike against Iran is an alluring prospect.
At the top of the target list for many Israelis are heavily fortified locations, some driven deep into the mountains where Iran houses nuclear facilities and could be used by Israel and others to make bombs. Concerned about sexuality.
EPA
Israel says it has carried out more than 1,100 airstrikes since launching a ground invasion in southern Lebanon on September 30.
President Biden has made it clear that the United States opposes the idea.
The United States believes that Iran is not trying to build nuclear weapons. An attack could force construction.
One of the most prominent voices in Israel pressuring Prime Minister Netanyahu to ignore US wishes is former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who has warned that Israel is reluctant to act against what he calls the Iranian octopus. It states that it should not.
He said it was “the 11th hour.”
Like opposition politician and former general Benny Gantz, Bennett believes that Iran is weaker than it has been in decades because of the damage inflicted on Hezbollah and Hamas.
“Essentially, Iran was protecting itself with two armies: Hezbollah and Hamas. They were like insurance against strikes,” Bennett said.
“But now both of his arms are nearly disabled.”
Bennett believes this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to do real damage to Iran’s Islamic regime.
He added: A strategy with Iran, after all, is not something that will happen tomorrow.
“We need to accelerate the end of this regime. This is a regime that is falling apart.
“If Iran acquires a nuclear weapon, there is a good chance they will use it to save the regime. That means they will turn the entire Middle East into a nuclear nightmare.”
Bennett believes the Middle East has become safer, recalling Israel’s two attacks on nuclear facilities in Iraq in 1981 and Syria in 2007.
“People don’t like it,” Bennett said. “But we saved the world from (Bashar al) Assad with nuclear weapons.
“We have the thankless task of dismantling the nuclear facilities of the worst regime in the world. Everyone wants to criticize us, but we are doing the job.
“If they get that bomb, that’s everyone’s problem. It’s not our problem. I don’t know how Londoners would feel if an intercontinental ballistic missile with a nuclear bomb was launched. We cannot allow that to happen.”
Oren Rosenfeld
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Iran could turn the Middle East into a “nuclear nightmare.”
Iran and Israel have been in direct conflict since April after Israel assassinated top Iranian generals in a massive airstrike on the Iranian embassy in Syria.
Iran’s retaliation was a missile attack on Israel. The escalation continued.
The latest measures were announced last Tuesday in retaliation for Israel’s attack on Iran’s ally Hezbollah in Lebanon and the assassination of its leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Iran launches a major ballistic missile attack, and Israel’s prime minister vows to fight back.
President Biden has been reluctant to detain Israel in the Gaza Strip. He also “urged” Israel to minimize damage to Lebanese civilians. But he has been adamant that Israel should not respond to Iran by attacking its nuclear facilities.
The United States believes that Iran is not trying to build nuclear weapons.
President Biden said Israel must protect itself, but not by attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities or oil industry.
The United States fears being drawn into an unwanted war. And there are concerns that if Iran survives the attack, it will be left penniless to produce nuclear warheads for its missiles.
The next phase of this spiraling war will depend on the extent of Israel’s retaliation, and it could be immediate.
