Amy Mackinnon
What War Is Israel Fighting?
Is Gaza the war, or just the opening battle in a wider confrontation between Israel and Iran? The answer to that question depends on whom you ask.
In Washington, officials see diplomacy as the answer to de-escalation. Over the past several months, the Biden administration has pursued a three-front diplomatic offensive that aims to strike a cease-fire deal in Gaza; restore quiet to Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, which has seen near-daily exchanges of fire with Hezbollah; and broker a historic normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia in the hopes of bringing about a permanent shift in the restive regional dynamics.
“Once a cease-fire and hostage deal is concluded, it unlocks the possibility of a great deal more progress, including—including calm along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon,” President Joe Biden said in a speech on May 31.
Israeli officials and analysts, meanwhile, have adopted a more expansive concept of the country’s security in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks. They often talk of the war in Gaza as just one front in a wider regional confrontation with Iran and its proxies that they now believe must be addressed.
No comments:
Post a Comment