Scott Summers
Well-known member
Israeli MoFA gets lunatic after seeing this picture.
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The Iranian response will most likely be symbolic, just like last time. They don’t want to inflict any serious damage to Israel, because this is exactly what Netanyahu is looking for, as a reason to escalate.
Haniyeh’s killing shows just how potent Israel is compared to Iran, and Iranian leaders will not want to put their lives on the line just to avange a Palestinian. They did almost nothing after their own Soleimani was killed, and they will do just another show in honor of Haniyeh.
At this point, it is obvious that Hezbollah and Iran are afraid of any escalation, while Netanyahu is looking for a pretext to escalate the war. Israel is aggressively targeting leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah tring to force an answer from Iran/Hezbollah, but that answer is just not coming.
Nethanyahu needs the war to continue and to be perceived as justified by the Israeli public, because when the war ends, his days in power end too. He wants a larger and more significant war. Iranians on the other hand want to mantain the status quo while saving face, because they have nothing to win from a war, and a lot to lose.
Israel won't assassinate Iranian top political leaders (like president or foreign minister) even if there is an escalation. No one has done anything like for a longtime. Of course Iranians have shown incompetence. They can't protect their leaders. Even US couldn't if Israel really wanted to assassinate the POTUS. But the reason no one does that, is because you can't protect your leaders either against decent sized state actors once you go down that rabit hole. People think world leaders are safe because of crazy secret service stuff. It's actually MAD that ensure their safety.
By assasinating leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, Israel is sending a strong message to Iran. It shows that Israel is willing to assasinate leaders if it has to, unlike other countries who are fearful to cross this line.
Netanyahu is power hungry, and for him losing power is the equivalent of losing his life, so he is not afraid o escalate at any level if he has no alternative when it comes to staying in power.
Israel has always been bolder in crossing red lines than other countries, and this is why everyone in the region fears them.
The combination of a highly advanced military backed by the US and a psychopathic leader like Netanyahu makes Israel extremely unpredictable and dangerous. This is why all other regional leaders will only bark but will not bite.
Netanyahu as seen from an Iranian agent trailing him
Is it verified though? Not taken by some journo?
Of course it is a lower level escalation, but Israel is showing that it is willing to raise the stakes if necessary, and this will make other leaders show restraint.Killing leaders of non state entities is quite different than killing a state actor's leadership. The problem is if Israel escalate and does that, Netanyahu won't be around much longer as he will be killed also sooner or later.