TEL AVIV — The analysts who crowded Israeli television studios in the tense hours leading up to Iran’s historic missile and drone barrage at Israel in the early hours of April 14 agreed, for the most part, that Israel would have no choice but to retaliate forcefully. But the speculation changed after 99% of the projectiles from Iran were intercepted, causing minimal damage in Israel, and President Joe Biden spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
It was the third time in as many days that Biden uttered the warning “Don’t.” But whereas the first two were aimed at Iran, the third was directed at Netanyahu in a bid to forestall an Israeli response that could escalate into regional war.
Israel striving for a regional coalition
Former Defense Minister and army chief Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s temporary war cabinet, summed up the shift in Israeli thinking on retaliation. “Yesterday, the world clearly stood together with Israel in the face of the danger. This is a strategic achievement, which we must leverage for Israel’s security,” he said Sunday. “We will build a regional coalition and exact the price from Iran in the way and at the time that suits us.”
