Kan 11 News reported Sunday night that during the meetings of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s war cabinet many were in favor of an immediate retaliatory attack on Iran. However, the decision to attack was averted at the last minute, following a conversation with President Joe Biden. It appears that in addition to US pressure, Netanyahu decided to halt the attack because the damage caused by the Iranian attack was not significant.
On Sunday, Kan11 reported that Saudi Arabia and Jordan responded to Iranian criticism of their assisting Israel in shooting down drones under the American umbrella, saying the Iranian “sponsors of terrorism should have been stopped a long time ago.”
A senior official in Amman told Kan11 that “What stands before Jordan’s eyes first and foremost is the protection of its citizens, the security of its borders, and its sovereignty. This is above all other considerations. Escalation from any side in the region will only bring destruction, death, and extremism,”. Clearly this was in response to Iranian criticism.
Indeed, despite Iran’s claims to great success in attacking Israel, the attack was its biggest failure. With cruise missiles carrying 750 kgs of explosives each, the worst they could manage was to injure a 7-year-old Bedouin girl, and some peripheral damage to an air force base. It appears that it wasn’t Israel losing its deterrence, it was Iran. Now its Sunni foes in the region understand that an Iranian attack can be stopped with relative ease – and they also know they won’t be alone under such an attack.
A coalition coming together for to protect Israel – and ultimately protect their own nations continues to isolate Iran. The Middle East has woken up to the true threat Iran represents to the region. While there are still other issues in Middle East relations, i.e., Israeli sovereignty and no two-state solution, that need to be resolved, we are grateful for the support Israel received over the weekend.
In the end, an extraordinary coalition was cobbled together to help Israel defend itself, but not to rain hellfire on the aggressor. Was this the right decision? Only time will tell.