The Iranian-Israel-Hamas-Hezbollah War: When Did Benjamin Netanyahu Assassinate Ismail Haniyeh?
Sometimes, in the Middle East, you have to rereport a story in order to see more clearly what’s happening. I’m having that experience with the Iran-Israel-Hamas-Hezbollah war, which could soon draw in the United States. The terrorist assault on Israel on Oct. 7 was part of an Iranian plan to drive the Israeli government to further expand their settlements in Jerusalem, as well as brutal treatment of Palestinian prisoners.
The almost certain escalation from the Haniyeh assassination signals a fundamental flaw in President Biden’s Gaza policy: the hope that the Gaza war could be contained to Gaza. Mr. Bidens red line has always been the possibility of regional conflict. But for months, the war has already been spreading — to Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and now, to Iran. The fact that it hasn’t yet erupted into even more widespread and intense conflict is the result of both diplomatic skill and a lot of luck, the latter of which appears to be running out.
But America must always be wary about what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is up to. As a former Israeli diplomat, Alon Pinkas, observed in Haaretz on Thursday, one has to wonder why Netanyahu chose now to assassinate the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran — in the middle of delicate hostage talks.
Was it merely because it was possible, or was it in an effort to distance the prime minister from the debacle of Oct?