Israeli leaders were discussing how best to respond to Iran’s unprecedented weekend airstrikes on Tuesday, officials said, weighing a series of options aimed at achieving different strategic outcomes: deterring similar attacks in the future, appeasing U.S. allies and averting an all-out war.
Iran’s attack on Israel, which included hundreds of ballistic missiles and exploding drones, has changed the unspoken rules of the arch-rival’s long shadow war. Until this month, neither country had launched large-scale air strikes directly from one country’s territory against the other.
Now, the considerations Israel must use to decide its next steps have also changed, said Israeli officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss Iran. The government made the decision under diplomatic pressure from allies who hoped it could de-escalate the conflict. U.S. officials have tried publicly and privately to convince Israel that it does not need to retaliate against Iran for the attack, which caused little damage.
But Israeli officials disagree. “We cannot stand by and watch this aggression,” Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday. He added that Iran would not act “with impunity.”
The Iranian attack came in response to Israeli airstrikes in Syria that destroyed a building in Damascus that was part of the Iranian embassy complex. Usually considered a restricted area Attacked and killed several senior Iranian military officials. Israeli officials said the building was used as an Iranian military and intelligence base, making it a legitimate target.
Israeli officials are currently debating internally over next steps. Some officials say Israel does not want Iran to conclude that it can attack Israeli territory every time it attacks Iranian interests in a third country. But they added that Israel also does not want and cannot afford a major conflict with Iran while still fighting a war in Gaza and engaging in smaller skirmishes with Iranian proxies along its borders.
Members of Israel’s small but cantankerous war cabinet are considering options big enough to send a clear message to Iran that such attacks would not go unanswered, but not so big as to trigger a major upgrade.
After three days of meetings, the cabinet has yet to decide on a response. The five-member cabinet held two hours of consultations with security officials on Tuesday and is expected to meet again on Wednesday, an official said.
