One can only speculate on the extent of co-ordination between the US President and the Israeli Prime Minister on Gaza, but the impression is that senior Israelis have been as surprised by Trump’s recent statements as everyone else.
The brutal Assad dictatorship is gone but is a new repressive Islamist regime being formed in Syria?
The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria marks the eclipse of Iran’s self-styled axis of resistance in the Middle East.
The decision by Hezbollah to quit the field is the latest and most terminal event in the trend of dwindling resistance. Hamas in Gaza now remains alone.
While a further Iranian response to Israel’s recent airstrike is possible, it looks unlikely as Iran wants to get back to conducting its war through expendable proxies.
This war on the ‘villa in the jungle’ was launched to test a thesis. It has been disproven at a very high cost.
Israel calls Iran’s bluff, but how the Iranians respond will affect the entire region.
The strategic advantage remains with Iran and its proxies. This is because through long years of complacency, Israel allowed Iran to build up two Islamist armies on its borders.
With a very real prospect of open warfare with Hezbollah and a wider regional conflagration, Jerusalem needs to formulate a comprehensive strategy against the threat from Lebanon.
The statement from the Iranian UN delegation that the matter can now be ‘deemed concluded’ indicates that Iran hopes to get back to the proxy warfare strategy. The ball is now in Israel’s court.
Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/jonathan-spyer