Israel’s war cabinet met Monday to assess possible responses to this weekend’s Iranian missile and drone attack, as the United States, Britain and other allies strongly urged Israel to show restraint and sought to ease tensions between the two regional powers.
Some far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin NetanyahuThe Iranian government has called for swift and forceful retaliation in response to Iran.
An Israeli official briefed on the cabinet discussions, speaking anonymously to discuss security issues, said several options were being considered, ranging from diplomacy to an imminent strike, but gave no further details. There was no immediate public statement from ministers or the Israeli prime minister.
“We are weighing our steps,” Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, Israel’s military chief of staff, told Israeli soldiers in a televised address Monday during a visit to an Israeli air base. “The launching of such a large number of missiles, cruise missiles and drones towards Israeli territory will be responded to. »
Mr. Netanyahu faces a delicate calculus: how to respond to Iran so as not to appear weak, while trying to avoid alienating the Biden administration and other allies already impatient with Israel’s pursuit of the war in Gaza.
While the United States, Britain and France strongly condemned the Iranian attack and intervened Saturday to help thwart it, their calls for restraint highlighted the pressure Israel faced to avoid a more direct confrontation with Iran.
President Biden on Monday praised the successful interception of Iranian airstrikes, which Iran carried out in retaliation for a deadly attack. airstrike on Iranian embassy complex in Syria two weeks earlier.
“Together with our partners, we defeated this attack,” Biden said in his first public appearance since the strikes, speaking from the Oval Office where he received Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.
“The United States is committed to the security of Israel,” he added, and continues to work toward an agreement that would end the war in Gaza, free the hostages and prevent “the conflict from spreading.” beyond what he already has.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller noted Monday that Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with British, Egyptian, German, Jordanian, Saudi and Turkish officials in an effort to appease tensions.
“We continue to make it clear to everyone we talk to that we want to see a de-escalation, that we don’t want to see this conflict escalate further,” Mr. Miller told reporters in Washington. “We don’t want to see a wider regional war.”
Yet, he added, “Israel is a sovereign country. They must make their own decisions about how best to defend themselves.
As Israel pondered its next move, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian again warned Israel that, if attacked, Iran would “immediately respond to Israel’s adventures.”
“I reiterate that we are not seeking to increase tensions in the region,” said Mr. Amir Abdollahian, according to Iranian state media. But he added that if US bases in the region were used in an attack, Iran “would have no choice” but to target those bases.
Mr. Amir Abdollahian spoke with his British counterpart, David Cameron, on Monday as part of diplomatic efforts to prevent further military strikes.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described the Iranian attack as a “reckless and dangerous escalation” by a government that “was intent on sowing chaos in its own backyard.” Faced with such threats, “Israel has our full support,” Mr Sunak told British lawmakers. But he added that Britain was working with its allies to de-escalate the situation, a point also stressed by Mr Cameron.
“We urge our Israeli friends to be smart and tough, to use their heads as well as their hearts, not to retaliate, but to recognize that in reality Iran has suffered a tactical and strategic defeat and that Israel should now focusing on Hamas and making sure that they get that hostage deal and that we try to bring peace and stability to Gaza,” Mr Cameron told the TV program “Hello Great Britain.”
Her German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, went a little further. When asked at a press conference on Monday whether Israel had the right to retaliate, Ms. Baerbock replied that “the right of self-defense means repelling an attack; retaliation is not a category under international law,” the Associated Press reported.
“Israel won defensively,” she said, adding that “it is now important to secure this defensive victory diplomatically.”
Almost all of the more than 300 drones and missiles Iran fired at Israel on Saturday were shot dead by the Israeli army with the help of Great Britain, Jordan and the United States. The only serious victim is a 7-year-old girl, Amina al-Hasoniwho was seriously injured.
On Monday, Iran announced it was lifting airspace restrictions over Tehran, the capital, and reopening its domestic and international airports. In Israel, much of daily life has returned to its usual rhythm, following the attack which plunged the country into a state of anxiety.
In downtown Jerusalem, Jaffa Street was crowded with shoppers and families strolling at the start of school holidays for the upcoming Passover holiday. Trendy cafes and restaurants in the trendy German Colony neighborhood have been doing brisk business selling vegan lattes and lunch bowls.
On Tel Aviv’s seafront promenade, Lev Mizrach, 41, said he was taking the opportunity to enjoy some peace and sunny quiet while he could.
“For today it looks like we have a moment of rest,” Mr. Mizrach said. “I hope this Iran thing is over, for now, because I’m tired of war. »
Dana Ben Ami, 34, said she, too, hoped the crisis was over.
“Iran did what it had to do,” Ms. Ben Ami said. “Enough. We should all stop now, end this day and agree that it’s over.
After more than six months of war in Gaza, she said, Israelis have little appetite for new conflict with Iran.
“We are tired of all this,” she said. “It’s time for Bibi to stop sending our husbands and sons to fight in his wars,” she added, referring to Mr. Netanyahu by a widely used nickname. “We are fed up with his government. »
Israel’s options range from openly hitting Iran to not retaliating at all, a concession that some analysts say Israel could exploit to encourage new international sanctions against Iran or the formalization of an anti-Iran alliance. .
There is precedent for doing nothing: During the 1991 Gulf War, as Iraq launched Scud missiles at Israeli cities, Yitzhak Shamir, then Israel’s hawkish prime minister, showed restraint. at the request of the Bush administration preserve the U.S.-led coalition with friendly Arab states.
Israel could also return to the methods of its years-long shadow war with Iran, orchestrating some sort of bloodless cyberattack or relying on espionage and covert actions against Iranian interests, inside or outside Iran, without claiming responsibility.
Israel’s choice will have strategic implications for his war in Gaza against Hamas, which is financed and armed by Iran, and for Palestinian civilians who have been struggling for months against violence and famine. More than 33,000 Gazans have been killed during the war, according to local health authorities.
Shlomo Brom, a retired brigadier general and former director of the Israeli army’s strategic planning division, said that if Israel responded with substantial force to the Iranian attack, it could incite a multi-front war that would force Israeli leaders to shift their attention away from Gaza.
In that case, General Brom said, Israel could choose to delay its plans to invade Rafah, in southern Gaza, where more than a million Palestinians have sought refuge. Israeli officials describe Rafah as Hamas’ last bastion.
“It is not comfortable for us to fight high-intensity, simultaneous wars in multiple theaters,” General Brom said.
The report was provided by Liam Pile, Aaron Boxerman, Sheera Frenkel, Patrick Kingsley, Pierre Boulanger And Farnaz Fassihi.
