SThe attack that Iran carried out against Israel on Sunday night cannot be called symmetrical. If the Tehran regime had only been interested in retaliation for the (presumed) Israeli strike on a consular building in Syria, then it would have had to attack an Israeli mission abroad somewhere.
But Khamenei clearly wanted to send a clear signal of deterrence to Israel and demonstrate energy to the domestic audience.
Only the Israelis' first-class anti-aircraft defense, with the help of partners, prevented major damage. Few other countries would have survived a major attack with hundreds of drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles so lightly.
The Iranian calculation
The Iranians may well have taken this into account, otherwise they would not have declared the matter over immediately. But it's not quite that simple. The fact that a country can defend itself well does not make such a massive attack any less reprehensible. After a long period of acting through its shadow armies, Iran has emerged from cover and let its hatred of Israel run wild.
This creates a difficult situation for the leadership in Jerusalem: In the short term, it would be wiser to focus on Hamas and Gaza rather than embark on a multi-front war across the region. In the medium to long term, however, Israel will not want to live with the constant threat from Iran, especially if nuclear weapons could be added.
The West also shouldn't stand by and watch as Iran bombs another country from the air in Putin's style (and hijacks merchant ships at the same time). Biden in particular has to be careful about what signals he sends. It is obvious that he does not want a war against Iran during the election campaign. But at least there should be no more concessions when it comes to sanctions.
The weekend showed once again in a dramatic way how existential the threat Israel is facing is. This is often overlooked even in Germany.
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