Countries around the world yesterday condemned Iran’s strikes on Israel, warning the attack could further destabilise the Middle East.
This is as Israel is debating Iran’s attack response at the Knesset with the US and her allies scrambling to stop a slide into an all-out war.
Israeli officials say that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet favours a retaliation against Iran for its mass drone and missile attack, but is divided over the timing and scale of any such response, according to Israeli media reports.
Israeli cabinet debates response to Iran attack
The five-member cabinet, in which Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz have decision-making powers, met yesterday and was expected to convene again for further discussions.
The Times of Israel, citing multiple Hebrew media outlets, reported that Gantz and his political ally Gadi Eisenkot, an observer in the war cabinet, suggested retaliating, even during Iran’s attack.
Israel’s Channel 12 reported that Gallant, Army Chief Herzi Halevi and others opposed this idea, in part because the Israeli air force was already deployed to intercept the incoming drones and missiles.
Benny Gantz, the opposition leader, who joined the war cabinet after the Hamas attacks of 7 October, emphasised the cohesion of Israel and its western allies.
Israel against Iran, the world against Iran. This is the result. That is a strategic achievement which we must leverage for Israel’s security.”
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The words Mr Gantz used did not rule out another attack on an Iranian target, or a first overt Israeli strike inside Iran (Israel has hit Iran’s nuclear programme repeatedly, with cyber-attacks and the assassination of officials and scientists).
But there might be time for the diplomatic response President Joe Biden wants from the meeting he has called of the G7, the richest western countries.
This most recent escalation of the war that has spread across the Middle East since Hamas attacked Israel began two weeks ago, when Israel attacked Iran’s embassy compound in Damascus. The air strike, on 1 April, killed a senior general, his number two and other aides.
