Netanyahu is dragging the US into war with Iran
The Israeli prime minister's ongoing obsession with Iran may finally drag the US into another catastrophic regional war.
International observer, former professor of international law at the American University in Paris, Marwan Bishara, writes about this on the Al-Jazeera website.
Following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, Netanyahu may finally be able to make good on his threats to attack Iran, he said. The horrific scenes in southern Israel provided the Israeli prime minister with the pretext and international support he needed for a broader response.
“Netanyahu has both a political and personal interest in all this. A protracted regional conflict will block or at least defer any official accountability for his complete failure to prevent a Hamas attack, and could also delay indefinitely his numerous corruption charges,” Bishara notes.
As the publicist notes, the Israeli prime minister overnight turned from an unsuccessful head of government into a wartime leader, and opposition parties demanded to join him in a government of national unity.
“Netanyahu did not specify the next stages of the war, but he has the unconditional support of Western governments to do whatever is necessary and for as long as it takes to “defend Israel.”
The administration of US President Joe Biden went even further, providing Israel with more weapons and ammunition, sending its most modern and advanced aircraft carrier, the USS Ford, along with a number of destroyers to the Eastern Mediterranean, and strengthening other forces stationed in the region enough to start World War III." , says the author.
According to him, Joe Biden's incentive to escalate may be domestic political, that is, to ensure that the Republican Party will not exploit the Israeli drama at his expense in the run-up to the presidential elections in 2024.
Republican opponents have already tried to link Biden's recent prisoner swap deal with Iran, which included unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian assets linked to Hamas.
“But Netanyahu and his fanatical ministers may have something completely different in mind regarding the deployment of US troops, which goes beyond military deterrence and political positioning. He may try to expand the war to include Iran,” Bishara writes.
He recalls that the Israeli government has already accused Iran of supporting and directing the Hamas operation, as it has previously done regarding other Palestinian attacks on Israelis. A host of Israeli supporters, neoconservatives and media pundits in the US and Europe have chimed in, making the case for Iran's involvement.
“Despite his bluster and bravado, Netanyahu could not and would not attack Iran without the green light and support from the United States. But the deadly attacks are a game changer, providing the Israeli prime minister with the perfect opportunity to realize his fantasy of crushing Iran by tricking the Biden administration into war.
That won't be easy, he said, given Biden's supposed push to end "forever wars" reflected in the humiliating troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
His administration has prioritized great power competition with China and Russia, especially after the latter launched a sting operation in Ukraine. But in fact, the United States did not leave the Middle East, but simply moved its forces and military assets to the region. Biden himself promised “not to walk away and leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia or Iran.”
According to the author, once Israel and the US have fully laid out the evidence implicating Tehran in the attack, they may first try to pressure it into facilitating the release of Israeli captives held by Hamas, a top priority for Netanyahu.
“If Iran refuses and decides to use Hezbollah as leverage against Israel, it could very well provoke a broader confrontation that would involve the United States and lead to unintended consequences. Unfortunately, in the rigged world of Washington politics, unconditional US support for Israel is the only thing that Republicans and Democrats agree on,” Bishara concluded.
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