In Attacking Iran, Israel Finally Listened to the US Why?

WASHINGTON – During 13 months of horrific war in the Gaza Strip, the US has repeatedly pressed Israel to limit civilian casualties and allow more humanitarian aid.

Israel has repeatedly rejected US advice and requests, with more than 42,000 Palestinians killed, according to Gaza health officials. The flow of aid has been so slow, often halted by Israel, that many Palestinians face starvation.

In the offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon, a similar pattern is emerging. The US called for the bombing to be limited and targeted, but Israel bombed southern Lebanon, Beirut and as far north as Tripoli.

However, when it came to Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes on Iranthe dynamic was different.

Iran launched a barrage of nearly 200 missiles and rockets into Israel on October 1 in retaliation for Israel’s killing of several high-ranking commanders from Hezbollah, Hamas and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Most were intercepted by Israeli forces and air defense systems, supported by the US and Britain.

Israel immediately vowed to retaliate. The question was when and how.

President Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to avoid hitting nuclear research sites and oil fields. And when Israeli warplanes fired missiles at Iran on October 26, in the largest such operation ever, they primarily hit military targets and only four people – all soldiers – were killed.

Here’s a look at the thinking that went into Israel’s actions in Iran.

Why did Netanyahu limit the targets this time?

The Israeli prime minister admitted without question that Iran is another adversary, much more powerful and potentially dangerous than the militant groups Hamas and even Hezbollah, Iran’s main proxy in the region. Iran would be in a position to respond more violently than those groups, even if it has proven itself averse to direct conflict.

This, in turn, could lead to much greater escalation and destabilization in the region, possibly drawing more countries and drawing the US deeper into the conflict.

Israel has managed to destroy most of Gaza and is in the process of spraying parts of Lebanon to international condemnation and outrage and political and diplomatic isolation, but without facing effective efforts to stop it. The price to pay for all-out war with Iran would likely be higher.

Was it easy for him to make the decision?

Probably not. US officials have put unusually strong pressure on Israel to scale back its targets, according to people familiar with the talks. Initially, both nuclear sites and oil fields and other energy facilities were on the list. The Israelis agreed to remove the nuclear facilities because of the risks involved and the difficulty of removing them. In the end, they also gave up on oil so as not to disrupt the global energy market.

After the bombing of Iran on October 1, Israel realized that it would not be able to repel a full Iranian attack on its own and that it would need support from other countries. So he couldn’t risk alienating the US in these talks.

There were more carrots offered by the US

The Biden administration also persuaded Israel by offering more incentives. It imposed yet another round of sanctions on Iran, this time cracking down on so-called ghost ships, unmarked oil tankers that Iran allegedly uses to export illicit petroleum products; rapidly deployed an advanced ballistic missile air defense system known as THAAD to Israel; and launched airstrikes on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen as a sign of solidarity.

Instead of nuclear and energy facilities, Israel said it took out many of Iran’s missile batteries and missile manufacturing plants. In what it called precise airstrikes, Israel also crippled much of Iran’s air defense network, the Netanyahu government said.

It was “as much as Israel could take without a major schism with the Biden administration,” said Bradley Bowman, a military expert at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies. The operation left Iran vulnerable, he said.

Is it over?

Not under any circumstances. Both Israel and Iran say they want to avoid conflagration, but both continue to threaten each other.