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“Israel and Iran's long-simmering tensions erupted into missile attacks on Friday, when Israel struck military and nuclear targets in Iran, and Iran retaliated with waves of ballistic missiles. At least 20 Iranian military commanders were killed…
“Iran launched retaliatory airstrikes at Israel on Friday night, with explosions heard in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the country's two biggest cities. Israel's military said Iran fired fewer than 100 missiles and most were intercepted or fell short. The U.S. military helped shoot down Iranian missiles headed for Israel, two U.S. officials said.” Reuters
“Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on Sunday… The Israeli military, which launched the attacks on Friday with the stated aim of wiping out Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, warned Iranians living near weapons facilities to evacuate…
“In Washington, two U.S. officials told Reuters that U.S. President Donald Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan in recent days to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. ‘Have the Iranians killed an American yet? No. Until they do we're not even talking about going after the political leadership,’ said one of the sources, a senior U.S. administration official.” Reuters
The left is critical of Israel’s attack and argues that Trump’s unsuccessful diplomatic efforts contributed to the situation.
“Netanyahu has launched a war of choice, not of necessity, against a country that, though certainly a major adversary, was not taking any steps that suggested, even remotely, that it was gearing up to attack Israel. Seen thus, Netanyahu’s defense that Israel had no choice but to launch a preemptive attack —which means a response in advance to an enemy’s self-evident preparations to wage war — won’t play well internationally.”
Rajan Menon, New Statesman
“By casting this new warfront as a bold move to preempt a fictional attack from a nonexistent nuclear bomb, Netanyahu [can] confer the benefits of being a supposed peacemaker driven to reluctant action. He will be boosted by the narrative that he is the one pushing for a deal that was good for Israel, despite trying to assassinate one of the primary negotiators…
“By finally igniting the war the Israeli establishment has been dreaming of for decades, Netanyahu can both work toward achieving the long-term goal of subjugating the region and, in the short term, shift domestic and international attention away from the horrors his military is committing in Gaza. Now the focus will be on war with Tehran, the capital of an adversary unparalleled in the Western mind.”
Séamus Malekafzali, The Intercept
“Surely Iran’s hardliners will now become more, not less, determined to acquire a nuclear weapon. They will have learned what might be called the North Korea lesson. After the Iraq war, Libya opted to abandon its nuclear programme. Not many years later, the Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, was dead in a ditch…
“Ukraine too gave up its nuclear bombs, only to be invaded by its neighbour. Meanwhile, the dictator dynasty in Pyongyang made the opposite move: they held on to their nukes, and no one has ever laid a finger on them.”
Jonathan Freedland, The Guardian
“None of this would likely have happened if during his first term Trump hadn’t scuttled the Iran nuclear deal, which President Barack Obama and the leaders of five other nations—Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China—had signed with Iran back in 2015…
“The deal was working. By the time Trump withdrew from it in 2018, Iran had exported 97 percent of its enriched uranium, dismantled its plutonium reprocessing plant, and taken all the other steps required, including opening up its facilities to very intrusive verification procedures by international inspectors. Trump said at the time that he hoped to negotiate a ‘better’ deal with Iran, but in fact, there was no such thing to be had.”
Fred Kaplan, Slate
“[Trump] has appointed the same man, his friend Steve Witkoff, as the U.S. envoy for all three sets of peace talks, involving Ukraine/Russia, Israel/Hamas and Israel/Iran. It would test the powers of even a veteran diplomat — a Henry Kissinger or Philip Habib — to conduct three disparate sets of negotiations at once. The task is all the more onerous given that Witkoff is a real estate developer with no background in diplomacy.”
Max Boot, Washington Post
The right is generally supportive of Israel’s efforts but divided about US involvement.
The right is generally supportive of Israel’s efforts but divided about US involvement.
“Barely a day before the strike, the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, representing 35 nations, declared that Iran was in violation of its nuclear nonproliferation obligations. The agency’s technical report points to ‘rapid accumulation of highly enriched uranium,’ [and] a failure by Iran to provide ‘technically credible answers regarding the nuclear material at three locations’…
“Sometimes military strikes end with blowback. But sometimes they accomplish their goals — as Israel showed when it took out Syria’s nuclear reactor in 2007 and Iraq’s in 1981… As for the prospect of Iran now racing toward a bomb, evidence suggests it was already doing so anyway. It will take time, probably years, for Iran to regain its former pace, and it will do so in a severely weakened military, technical and economic state. And it can always be hit again.”
Bret Stephens, New York Times
“Hundreds of Americans have died because of Iranian-backed terrorism. Through its proxies and its alliances, the Islamic Republic has sought to undermine American interests whenever and wherever possible. If the regime acquires nuclear weapons, it won’t just threaten Israel – it will hold the entire world hostage and trigger a regional arms race that will make the Cold War look like child’s play. Given these realities, how could anyone doubt that America’s and Israel’s interests are one-in-the-same?”
Mike Pompeo, Fox News
“The Trump administration’s support needs to go beyond mere tweets and praise… The United States must quickly furnish Israel with any tools needed to finish the job – first-rate intelligence, offensive and defensive munitions, and THAAD missiles to counter the ballistic missile threat from Iran. And if Iran is foolish enough to strike out at the United States in retaliation for this, then America should respond with B-2 Stealth Bombers and Massive Ordinance Penetrators.”
Mark Montgomery and Ben Cohen, New York Post
Others argue, “American national interests in the Middle East remain the same as ever: discouraging the rise of a hegemonic power, discouraging Islamic terrorism, and keeping the Red Sea and Persian Gulf sea lanes free…
“While the course we are on staves off the already distant prospect of Iranian hegemony, it will egg on Islamic terrorism and tempt hostile action on the sea lanes as Iran and its proxies seek leverage against their enemies. If the conflict is inevitable, the American message must be clear: This is not our war.”
Jude Russo, American Conservative
“By getting involved, America would only cause more ferment in the region… Our task is to renew our sclerotic institutions at home, uprooting the elites who embody inertia and ideological petrification and returning the republic to the vigor of its youth. The wars we’ve fought since 1945 have all, or almost all, been social experiments conducted by the liberal elite, not fights in which survival or freedom was at stake. If we were to join Israel’s war against Iran, it would be another unnecessary and counterproductive project.”
Daniel McCarthy, Compact Magazine
