Jake Wallis Simons
The Telegraph, July 31, 2024
“The Iranians are boxed in. The law of the region dictates that they will need to mount a response. But dare they provoke Netanyahu further?”
Since October 7, Israel has had one geostrategic imperative: to reinstate deterrence. In the Middle East – and increasingly in Ukraine and further afield – states live or die on the strength of their ability to cow their enemies, and none more so than the Jewish one.
This morning, as the dust settles over the former safe house in Tehran in which the Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was living in luxury until death came upon him from the skies, that deterrent is well on the way to being restored.
The Iranian regime is in a state of shock. The last time Israel targeted a terrorist perceived as too high in value to tolerate, Tehran unleashed a night of 300 projectiles on the Jewish state, only one of which hit the target. The west united to play defence, but the Israeli response was surgical and designed to send a message of fear, not pain.… [To read the full article, click here]