Israel's war cabinet wants to retaliate against Iran's

[pieter]

NOS News today, 6:52 PM

Israel's war cabinet wants to retaliate against Iran's attack, but is divided over timing and scale


Debris from a projectile shot down over Israel

Almost a day after Iran's attack on Israel, the main question is what Israel plans to do. Although world leaders call for calm, Israel's war cabinet believes Iran must pay a price. But there is no agreement yet about when and how.

According to the Israeli military, Iran and its allies fired a total of 350 projectiles towards Israel. The drones and missiles contained a total of approximately 60 tons of explosive material.

"But Iran's threat was met with the superiority of our air defense technology," an army spokesman said. “Led by the United States, together with Britain, France and other allies, we intercepted 99 percent of the projectiles aimed at Israel and thwarted Iran's attack.”

Correspondents on possible response from Israel

Iran's attack has been condemned from many quarters. The G7, the group of the seven largest industrialized countries, said that "Iran's action has taken further steps towards destabilizing the region, threatening an uncontrollable escalation."

Outgoing Prime Minister Rutte condemned the attack late last night. Today, outgoing Foreign Minister Bruins Slot summoned the Iranian ambassador in The Hague. "To convey our condemnation of last night's dangerous Iranian attack on Israel."

Mark Rutte
@minpres
The National Security Council has just met by telephone to discuss the situation in the Middle East. The Netherlands strongly condemns Iran's reckless and dangerous attacks. It is good to see that Israel has effectively repelled these attacks. Israel's security must not be further jeopardized. It is very important that regional escalation is prevented. We continue to monitor the situation closely.

World leaders are now calling on Israel to exercise restraint. US President Biden is said to have told Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu that retaliation is not necessary, now that the attack has caused little damage in Israel and appears to have caused few casualties.

But the question remains whether Israel will do the same. In the afternoon the war cabinet met to discuss a possible response. The war cabinet is in favor of retaliation, according to what officials say about that meeting. But there is still discussion about the timing and scale of such an action.

"We will form a regional coalition and make Iran pay the price in a way and at a time that suits us," Minister Gantz said before the meeting. But he did not share further details.

High state of readiness

In the meantime, Israel remains on maximum alert. "We are still on high alert and assessing the situation. In the past hours we have approved operational plans for both offensive and defensive actions," an army spokesperson said.

The Netherlands has set the travel advice to red for all of Israel. "It cannot be ruled out that further attacks will take place," the ministry wrote. “Whatever your situation, don't go there.” People in the country are advised to leave as soon as possible if it is safe to do so.

[pieter]

NOS News today, 14:02 PM

Israel and Iran: from allies to sworn enemies


Israeli prime minister Bejamin Netanyahu and the supreme leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Annabel van Gestel

editor Online

Israel and Iran are two superpowers in the Middle East that have been fighting each other for decades. The Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate at the beginning of this month and Iran's retaliation last night have put that relationship under high tension. Yet it has not always been hatred and envy between the countries.

How did Iran and Israel go from cooperating partners to sworn enemies?

Allies

Iran was one of the first Islamic countries to recognize the State of Israel in 1950. The Shah, the Persian king, maintained close ties with the West at that time. “Israel was a Western stronghold in the Middle East,” explains Middle East expert Paul Aarts. "So those countries got along."

The first break in that relationship occurred in 1979, when the revolution broke out in Iran and anti-Western sentiments gained the upper hand. However, according to Aarts, it is a misconception that the relationship between Iran and Israel completely cooled from that moment on. "Israel and Iran still had business relations until the early 1990s. Iran even supplied oil to Israel for a while."

This only really changed when Iraq's leader, Saddam Hussein, was eliminated as a potential threat to Israel after his failed invasion of Kuwait in 1991, says Aarts. "Until then, Israel and Iran - as the only non-Arab countries in the Arab region - had a common enemy. Israel in particular needed Iran to curb the threat from Iraq. Only when that threat disappeared could the enmity against Iran become rampant, to where we are now.”

October 7

After the Hamas attack on October 7, relations between the two superpowers reached a new low. The war that has raged since then is not limited to a battle between Israel and Hamas. Other militias such as Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, the Houthis in Yemen and groups in Iraq and Syria are also joining the fight. And they are all linked to Iran.

“Israel is very concerned that Iran is threatening Israel's existence with its proxies in the region,” said strategic analyst and Iran expert Damon Golriz. According to him, there is also a larger, strategic power struggle between the countries behind the scenes: "Who plays the biggest role in the Middle East? Israel with the US as a major ally? Or Iran with its Shia proxies?"

Middle East expert Aarts warns not to blame all actions of those groups on Iran. "We know that some of these militias are indeed controlled from Iran, but for others it is difficult to prove. It is a simple and dangerous view to point directly to Iran when actions by those militias, such as Prime Minister Netanyahu likes to do."

Divert attention from Gaza

According to Aarts, Israel's attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus at the beginning of this month was an attempt by Israel to divert attention from Gaza. "Gaza is a drama. Initially for the Gazans, but also for Israel. This attack was a provocation to have a larger military confrontation with Iran and hopefully involve the Americans."

Defense specialist Peter Wijninga calls last night's Iranian retaliation special. "It was an attack with more than 300 projectiles. Russia has never been able to carry out such a large attack on Ukraine."

Israel has managed to intercept the majority of the drones and according to Wijninga, Iran did not expect anything different. "This was mainly a way for Iran to show what they have and what they are capable of. The big question is what Israel will do now, but it will first be played at a diplomatic level."

Iran expert Golriz sees this differently. He calls Iran's action a game changer. "Everything now depends on how the US acts. Israel will not stop there. And if Israel responds, it will be a heavier attack than what Iran did last night. President Biden can say: we will not go with Israel in an attack on Iran, but he has promised to defend Israel. And then we are faced with a whole new reality."

[pieter]

[pieter]

[pieter]

[Jaga]

Hello Pieter, I don't want to think about it too much, since it is too scary, therefore I am going back to the discussions about Poland and Europe in general.

[pieter]

Apr 14, 2024 17:52:37 GMT -7 Jaga said:

Hello Pieter, I don't want to think about it too much, since it is too scary, therefore I am going back to the discussions about Poland and Europe in general.

Dear Jaga,

Thank you Jaga. I do believe you are right. Thinking to much about the 2 major conflicts that are going on right now (Ukraine-Russia) and (Gaza-Israel-Iran) is to sensitive, to large and can make us depressed and sad. It is healthy want you do!

Pieter

[pieter]

www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/americas/artc-biden-s-call-with-netanyahu-halted-immediate-strike-on-iran-report