Escalation Ladder
Last night, Israel and her allies intercepted 99 percent of all hardware launched at Israel. The damage in Israel was relatively minor. It includes one ten-year-old killed, another young one in intensive care, and six more who were moderate to light injuries. All were Bedouins in the south. So ironically, Iran hit fellow Muslims.
Damage to the two military bases was very minor. The Russians posted a satélite photo of the Nevatim Air Force base. The Iranians managed to get a rocket through that hit the taxiway. The IDF also had a video of F-35 fighters coming home, and the taxiway has been fixed.
This brings me to the escalation ladder and the nature of the region. First, the statement of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant:
Defense Minister Galant at the end of a situation assessment: “The whole world saw tonight who Iran is, the containment of the attack was impressive and resulted in few injuries — alert and prepared for any scenario”
Defense Minister Yoav Galant said this morning at the end of a situation assessment with the senior members of the defense establishment:
“I have now finished cutting the situation with the top of the IDF. The State of Israel faced an attack tonight by hundreds of missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, the IDF stopped the attack in an impressive manner.’
“Together with the American and other partners, we managed to cause very little damage to the territory of the State of Israel, a very impressive achievement done with distinction by the IDF.”
“The whole world saw tonight who Iran is: a terrorist state that attacks the State of Israel from a distance of 1,500 km and tries to activate all its proxies. But the world has also seen what the power of a coalition is, and how Israel, together with the US and other countries, stands up and stops this attack in an unparalleled way.”
“The campaign is not over yet, we need to be alert and attentive to the instructions of the IDF, to the instructions of the Home Front Command and prepare for any scenario, at the same time — the most significant wave in our army, and we did it with great success.”
First, he alluded to allies. It was not just US assets that flew with Israel, but also the United Kingdom, France, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. This is a significant development because, at a high level, it is already changing the region's geopolitics.
Yes, Hezbollah and the Houthis fired missiles into Israel as well. Israel responded to the attacks from Lebanon by destroying more infrastructure in the Bekaa Valley. So that part of the story was another day ending in Y in the Middle East.
Israel could take the win and call it a day. I doubt we would have if we had been in Israel’s shoes. So, our calling for Israeli restraint matches the calls on Ukraine not to attack Russia. So there is that.
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