Israel's multifront war

ISRAELI military officials have publicly admitted they are fighting on no less than seven fronts: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iran, Judea and Samaria. What can be gleaned from the speech of President Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is that Israel aims at victory on all fronts. Netanyahu is bent on bringing a final solution to attacks against the existence of the Jewish state. A ceasefire in the near term anywhere is out of the question because Netanyahu apparently believes that despite the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) successes in weakening the capabilities of the adversaries, a ceasefire without complete victory will only allow the enemy to regroup and threaten the existence of Israel again and again.

At the moment, the international community is in suspense over whether Israel will attack Iran in retaliation for the attack of 180 hypersonic missiles on Israeli military bases waged by Iran last month. US President Joe Biden reportedly talked to Netanyahu in order to dissuade him from retaliating. The Iranian attack did little damage because Israel's Iron Dome and other defense systems put down most of the Iranian missiles, and it could be said that the incident ended in a victory for Israel. Biden also told Netanyahu that the US will not participate in any Israeli retaliatory operation against Iran. But Biden's words might have entered one ear and exited another. A later statement of the US national security adviser indicated as much.