Oh yes, Israel did ...
Slap back at Iran with missile strikes targeting its nuclear facilities
I did not credit Jerusalem enough regarding its willingness to take on more strategic risk, putting the ball back into Tehran’s court by directly targeting its nuclear program.
Attention-grabbing, all around.
The logic of my recent piece (see below) only gets stronger.
The more Israel gets the world worked up about an expanded regional war by extending this tit-for-tat dynamic, the easier it will be for all of us on the outside to swallow its looming demolition of Rafah — and whatever else is still to come along those lines for Gaza as a whole.
The larger danger raised? The distinct possibility that Israel is now likewise prepping the world for its eventual full-on attack on Iran’s nuclear program as Tehran draws ever closer to fielding its first bomb, as in, take care of the close enemy first, and then finally go after the distant one.
Prior to the recent resurgence of Israel-v-Hamas conflict, that worry has been out there — in the ether — for roughly two decades, stretching back to when the US itself seriously considered doing it under the W. Bush Administration.
It would all seem to depend just how existential Israel is feeling right now, during what is likely the endgame of the Netanyahu era.
If I were the Gulf monarchies, I would be upping my offer to Israel right now.
Or maybe that’s all been secured already.
Never waste a good crisis.