Security analysts and former officials said the damage Israel had inflicted on Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militia, had stripped Tehran of much of its deterrence against a wider Israeli attack.
Israel has a freer hand to respond forcefully to Iran’s missile barrage on Tuesday than it did in April, security analysts and former officials say, when its retaliation for the previous Iranian attack was a largely symbolic strike against an air-defense installation in Iran.
In April, Israel was worried that issuing too intense of a response would prompt Iran to order its proxy militias — particularly Hezbollah in Lebanon — to retaliate extensively.
But after launching a bombing campaign that killed Hezbollah’s leader and other commanders last week, along with a ground invasion overnight Tuesday, Israel has weakened Hezbollah, stripping Iran of much of its deterrence against a wider Israeli attack, said Danny Citrinowicz, a retired Israeli intelligence officer who specialized in Iran.
I know, but my point is that Israel and Iran can never get along in their current state. Either Israel would have to stop being a US protectorate or Iran would have to submit to US interests. Neither is going to happen, so fruitful diplomacy isn’t possible. That (and the whole settler colonialism thing) is the core reason why they’ve been in conflict for decades. The US can’t buy Iran’s cooperation because Iran accepting that would itself be an act of submission. Israel has its own issues with Iran, but that’s irrelevant compared to (and caused by) the fundamental geopolitical incompatibility between the two states.