Hal Turner<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s entire political, defense and media establishment is foaming at the mouth over the US-Iran deal, calling Trump a traitor and going after Netanyahu for kicking off the disastrous misadventure in the first place.<\/p>\n
But in the prime minister\u2019s inner circle, ministers vow to fight on, alone if necessary, as Trump signals he\u2019s done.<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udd34 \u201cIsrael reserves the right to act independently against Iran\u2019s nuclear program\u201d and won\u2019t withdraw from occupied Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and the West Bank, Defense Minister Katz declared.<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udd34 \u201cTrump\u2019s agreement does not bind us,\u201d National Security Minister Ben-Gvir assured.<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udd34 \u201cWe will have to continue the campaign to topple the regime ourselves and in creative ways,\u201d Finance Minister Smotrich tweeted.<\/p>\n
A one-on-one war between Israel and Iran wouldn\u2019t just end in tears for Tel Aviv. It would threaten the Jewish State with a disaster on a biblical scale:<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udd34 The Israeli Air Force is hopelessly dependent on US aerial refueling support for strike missions into Iran, possessing just seven small, aging Boeing 707s and a lone KC-46A Pegasus. Iran, by contrast, has proven able to hit Israel and overwhelm its air and missile defenses, and those of the US and its regional allies, all without an air force, by using long-range missiles and drones.<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udd34 Many of Israel\u2019s weapons stocks have been critically drained after multiple rounds of fighting with Iran and other countries in the region from 2023 on. When 50%+ of your arms come from a single sugar daddy, you don\u2019t pick a fight with a lion, especially if that lion produces over 90% of its own weapons.<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udd34 Iran has allies stretching from Lebanon and Iraq to Yemen who have promised, and made good on promises, to support their Axis of Resistance ally. Besides the US, who are Israel\u2019s real military allies \u2013 ready to back words with force of arms? The Gulf States \u2013 who\u2019ve taken a severe beating for hosting US bases? The Europeans, who told Trump early on that they don\u2019t want anything to do with his Iran war?<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udd34 The latest war handed Iran a tool of leverage it never had before that\u2019s better than any WMD: the ability to punish enemies economically by closing Hormuz. What comparable tool can Israel boast? AIPAC? Its Samson Option threat to nuke the world if the Zionist project goes belly up?<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udd34 Smotrich\u2019s \u201ccreative ways\u201d remark implies the possibility of unconventional warfare if kinetic aggression isn\u2019t possible \u2013 cyberattacks, funding of separatist and terror proxies, assassinations, and economic sabotage. The current war has shown that Iran can\u2019t be bullied using these methods, and that its leadership can\u2019t be killed into submission.<\/p>\n
Can the same really be said of Israel?<\/p>\n