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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe unspoken story of why Israel didn't clobber Iran
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/04/19/israel-iran-retaliate-diplomacy/
https://archive.ph/AxQng
One rule for containing a crisis is to keep your mouth shut, and the United States, Israel and Iran were all doing a pretty good job at that Friday after Israeli strikes near the Iranian city of Isfahan. Maybe the silence was the real message a desire on all sides to prevent escalation by word or deed. Over the past week, weve seen what looks to me like a considered decision by Israel to subtly reshape its strategy for deterring Iran and Iranian proxies Hamas and Hezbollah. Israeli deterrence is usually about massive use of offensive military force a roundhouse punch that seeks to compel compliance through coercion.
But this time was different. When Iran launched a missile and drone barrage last weekend in retaliation for Israels April 1 strike on Iranian military leaders in Damascus, Syria, Israel used its Iron Dome defense system and help from allies to absorb the blow. The reported destruction of 99 percent of Irans incoming munitions was an astonishing display of missile defense. Some Israelis wanted to respond immediately with a big counter-barrage. But under pressure from President Biden, they waited. When the Israeli response came early Friday, it was muted. Iranian and Israeli reports suggest that the Israeli air force attacked a site near some of Irans largest nuclear facilities. Those facilities werent damaged, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. But Israel sent the message that it can penetrate Iranian air defenses and hit strategic targets when it chooses.
Israel wanted the last word in this exchange, and it seems to have succeeded. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday, after talks with officials in Tehran, that Iran does not want an escalation. Iranian public statements scoffed at the limited action, but Israel showed it can strike when it wants in this case a jab, but next time, maybe not. In this sense, Israel maintained what strategists call escalation dominance. It landed the first blow and the last one. How to explain Israels actions over the past week? What accounts for its restraint, in a situation where hawks in the Israeli government were screaming for all-out assault?
Heres my take: Israel is behaving like the leader of a regional coalition against Iran. In its measured response, it appeared to be weighing the interests of its allies in this coalition Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan which all provided quiet help in last weekends shoot-down. Its playing the long game, in other words. This would amount to a paradigm shift for Israel. Rather than seeing itself as the embattled Jewish state fighting alone for its survival against a phalanx of Arab and Muslim enemies, Israel knows that it has allies. Top of the list, as always, is the United States. But America is joined by Arab states that oppose Iran and its proxies as much as the Israelis do. Thats the new shape of the Middle East. But for now, at least, this ripening friendship between Israel and its former adversaries in the region must remain unspoken.
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