“We are keeping all options open,” government spokesman David Menser said yesterday.
The plan drawn up by the generals reportedly includes possible air strikes against military installations in Iran. Perhaps “choreographed” in such a way that there would be no casualties, as happened over the weekend. The number of injured is thirty.
The scenarios in Israel’s options include cyberattacks on infrastructure and the banking sector, and in the most extreme, strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, according to analysts, the “Jerusalem Post” newspaper wrote yesterday.
The only thing that is certain is that such a great challenge cannot go unanswered, declares Israel. Tehran must receive a strong message so that it does not repeat something similar in the future. Along with the military response, diplomatic moves are being considered to further isolate the Islamic Republic on the international stage, according to CNN.
On this wavelength, the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, underlined yesterday, speaking to Sky News, that Israel is in the vanguard of the war “against the Evil Empire and this must finally be understood”.
The final decision is not at all easy and Netanyahu and his staff must keep many factors in mind, emphasizes an analysis of the “Times” newspaper.
Iran is more than 1,000 km away. Air raiding is risky and requires good planning. If it leans towards using drones, as Iran did, the blow will be more symbolic.
On a political level, in addition to the world leader and the international community pushing for measured movements and self-restraint, Netanyahu also has to reckon with the internal political scene. His nationalist and far-right partners are demanding harsh retaliation. The pragmatist wing wants to maintain good cooperation with Washington.
On the other hand, Tehran has lowered its tone and the Iranian Foreign Ministry yesterday called on the international community to appreciate the restraint of the Islamic Republic. Of course, “if the Israelis attack us, the response will be tougher”, is the message.
For Tehran, Israel bears the responsibility for what has been taking place in the Middle East in the last 24 hours, due to the attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, which claimed the lives, on April 1, of senior commanders of the Iranian Armed Forces.
The point for the planet, watching with bated breath, is to de-escalate the tension and close the circle here.
“Neither the region nor the world can withstand another escalation. We are on the brink,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. “We are on the edge of the cliff and we must immediately move away. Let’s brake and reverse,” added the head of the European Union’s foreign policy, Josep Borrell.
The impenetrable air defense opposite to Tehran attack
Israel has been congratulated by Washington for successfully defending against Saturday night’s unprecedented Iranian drone and missile attack. A 99% interception rate, despite the help of allies, confirms that Israel has one of the most sophisticated air defense systems in the world.
The country operates a multi-layered system, most of which it developed with the US, however, if Israel were to come under sustained attack in a war of attrition with Tehran, it would at some point see the missiles in its arsenal that it uses to defend itself dwindle to alarming degree, Fabian-René Hoffmann, an expert at the University of Oslo, rings the bell in the newspaper “Wall Street Journal”.
There are no reliable data on the size of the arsenal of the two sides, but in the Israeli press Brigadier General Rem Aminoch, a former adviser to the staff of the Israeli Armed Forces, gave estimates on the financial costs of the operation of the defense umbrella of the Jewish state.
The interception of about 350 drones and ballistic and cruise missiles by the Arrow, Iron Dome and David’s Sling systems on the night of April 13-14 cost about 1.5 billion euros (5 billion shekels).
The relative budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) last year reached about 60 billion shekels, notes Aminoch.
In planning the scale of a counterattack against Iran, which might respond with a new barrage of missiles, Israeli generals and political leadership must consider all kinds of constraints, including economic costs, he recommends.
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