Iran Has Just Strengthened Netanyahu’s Hand

Jamie Dettmer, Gabriel Gavin and Christian Oliver
Politico, Apr. 14, 2024

“He can either go for the head of the octopus, which is Tehran, arguing we have the legitimacy to do so now. Or he can say to the Americans: We understand that you don’t want us to escalate with Iran and we are ready to compromise, but what we want in return is that America will give Israel all the help needed to destroy the military capability of Hamas in Gaza, including in Rafah.”
 
Iran isn’t a phantom boogeyman any more — and that’s a godsend for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who can now turn Saturday’s drone and missile barrage by Tehran to his political advantage, as he pursues his war in Gaza, and potentially in Lebanon.

Netanyahu has long been scoffed at for detecting the long hand of the mullahs behind almost every threat to Israel’s security and has been widely accused of exaggerating the risks of a direct attack from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Now, Netanyahu can claim the mask has dropped and that the real enemy is clear after the Islamic Republic’s unprecedented bombardment crossed what for decades was an unthinkable red line. It is the first time Iran has launched a direct attack on the state of Israel, and Mohammad Jamshidi, a deputy chief of staff to Iran’s president, said the “strategic equation” had now changed between Tehran and Israel.

That new dynamic greatly strengthens Netanyahu’s hand in securing international military support and allows him to double down on his war against Iran-backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and then possibly switch to Lebanon’s Hezbollah, another Iranian Shi’ite proxy. The prime minister now has greater leeway to cast the Gaza war as a struggle of national survival against a well-armed geostrategic heavyweight, led by Islamist fundamentalists pursuing nuclear arms. 

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