Amir Avivi
Times of Israel, Dec. 29, 2022
“Israel will have to choose which threats to focus on immediately, and which to manage or delay.”
Given the flurry of critical editorials by leading newspapers around the world condemning the right-wing Israeli government and those who will lead it, even before it has been and as it is being sworn to office, I wish to re-focus attention on the harsh security reality that Israel faces along its borders and from within.
The Persian elephant in the room needs to be acknowledged. So far, diplomacy and sanctions have failed to prevent the Islamic State of Iran from becoming a nuclear threshold state. By most assessments, Iran will obtain enough enriched material to produce nuclear bombs, and it is also in advanced stages of matching bombs with missiles to fire them thousands of miles from Iran’s borders. Israel needs to face that reality or prepare and activate the relevant military measures to negate that. This will be the dominant military threat that Netanyahu’s coalition will have to deal with, and time has nearly run out. The way Israel deals with this specific threat will likely determine how many of the other threats materialize.
Iran’s strategy of encroachment and fight-by-proxy is tightening the virtual noose around many Israeli necks, visible from all our borders in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, and even in area A of the Palestinian Authority. In this regard, consecutive Israeli governments have failed to prevent the buildup of substantial terror armies at our doorstep, and the time has come to address those threats in a more direct manner.
The most pressing threat is Hamas, which has stockpiled tens of thousands of rockets in Gaza over the last 15 years, and can effectively cover all of populated Israel and bring the country to a standstill. … [To read the full article, click here]