Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Is the Best Israeli Move to Enjoy or Exploit?

What should Israel do about Hezbollah?

Hezbollah is burned out from its losses in Syria endured so shortly after its losses in the 2006 war with Israel. Has this made them meek in regard to Israel?

Hezbollah understands that the 2006 July war was the last war with Israel that the Shia community was willing to endure and that the Syria war has exhausted them. Therefore, Hezbollah has moved the fight against Israel from the field to speeches and stone statues [erected in honor of Soleimani].

Iran certainly expects Hezbollah to do what it is told.

My view for a long time is that the exhaustion is an opportunity for Israel to really hammer Hezbollah.

Maybe Israel is happy to have a respite from the threat that costs Israel little to enjoy. And maybe Iran is failing anyway as the article discusses, making it a mistake to get in the way of an enemy's failure.

Or maybe domestic political volatility is preventing Israel from making a unified decision on something as big as a war.