Netanyahu engages in suicide talk with Hezbollah chief
Israel has made a critical error in threatening Hezbollah in Lebanon, just seconds before backing away from a full on confrontation with the Iranian-backed Shia group, as well as one with Assad in Syria, according to reports in international news wires on 11th October.
Astonishingly, in the middle of a war in Gaza with Hamas, Benjamin Netanyahu is playing the riskiest of strategies in the crisis by balancing on a knife edge of whether to go “full out” on Hamas and its sponsors in the region, or to stay within Gaza itself.
Israeli military intelligence has been warning for months against possible war with Hezbollah, pointing to several indications of unusual activity by its members, and saying Nasrallah its chief has adopted a hardline.
On the 7th of October, on the day of the Hamas surprise attack, an Israeli minister warned that the Hamas attack was just a ruse by Iran and would be followed by a surprise assault by Hezbollah.
READ: Israel: Hezbollah strikes back after three members killed
“Iran is behind everything that is happening in our region… It pushed [Hamas] into war, and… will push [Hezbollah] to launch a second war,” the minister was quoted as saying.
Such a bold move, to fight Hezbollah in Northern Israel or southern Lebanon as well as taking on Syria and Iranian military installed there might be considered suicide. Leading military analysts struggle to agree whether Israel’s resources could even realistically manage a war effectively on three fronts – placing a bigger question over the presence of a fleet of American war ships moored off the coast of the Gaza Strip. Is Biden seriously considering backing Israel all the way? Presently he doesn’t even have red lines which he has set out in Gaza itself, so Congress will play a pivotal role in any bigger strategy but it is unlikely it will give Netanyahu the green light for a regional war.
The extraordinary warning from Israel to Hezbollah came via the French, newswires are reporting, amidst heightened tensions that a war will escalate in the region between Iran and Israel, despite a number of analysts playing down Hezbollah and Israel fighting each other.
Israel has told the Lebanese Hezbollah party that it “is not interested in the war, but ready to wage it if it is imposed on it,” political sources told Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, according to the reports.
It also made unprecedented threats, explaining that the war will not be waged according to “Hezbollah’s agenda, and will witness several strategic shocks.”
Israel informed the party, through France, that if the Shia party joined the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza, it would “resort to American power to suppress Hezbollah,” as well as confront and overthrow the Syrian regime, including President Bashar al-Assad’s personal security.
So far, there are no reports from US media which have confirmed that such an offer is on the table by the Biden administration.
However, military sources told the newspaper that the decision announced by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to bring the US aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford closer to the region was part of this threat.
The huge modern battleship carries 38 F-35, F-15, and F-16 fighter planes, and has a stockpile of 1,000 tons of weapons. It is accompanied by four small warships, a ship carrying missiles, and four nuclear war submarines, and is ready for combat.
Military sources who spoke to the newspaper said Israel held talks with the administration of US President Joe Biden and requested Congress’ approval to allow US forces to participate in a possible campaign against Hezbollah.
If any such US strikes were to happen, Hezbollah would flatten a number of Israeli cities, military garrisons, power stations within seconds by releasing a volley of high precision Iranian rockets.
Army officials subsequently believe it was not wise for Israel to open the northern front, but they seem to be saying that they will not have any strategic options if Hezbollah provocations persist.
The Israeli army announced on Oct. 5 that it was preparing “to conduct the largest massive training exercises to train on launching a broad, multi-front war” next November.
It added that these exercises will focus on the air force, with the unusual participation of the German, American, Italian, Greek and French air forces. Britain cancelled its participation at the last minute and decided to send observers.
Reuters/AFP/Levantis
