JERUSALEM, Israel — Israelis awoke Saturday morning to peace and quiet, wondering whether a much-touted Iranian attack will actually happen, or whether it was just a bluff.
Iran has been attacking Israel since October 7, through its proxies — Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and militias in Iraq.
On April 1, Israel launched an airstrike in Damascus, Syria, that killed two Iranian generals and five other officials.
Iran promised to retaliate, and U.S. President Joe Biden said Friday that he expects such an attack will happen. American intelligence sources, through the Wall Street Journal, said Friday that they expected an attack within twenty-four to forty-eight hours.
Israel placed its military on high alert, and the U.S. reportedly moved warships within the region to deter an Iranian attack and to assist Israel in the event such an attack actually takes place.
As Breitbart News reported, the U.S. also instructed diplomatic staff in Israel not to travel outside the cities of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Be’er Sheva.
No one knows what form the purported Iranian attack will take. There have been rumors in the media about a “swarm” of drones that might descent on northern Israel. There could be a barrage of rockets and anti-tank missiles fired by Hezbollah from southern Lebanon. There could be cruise missiles launched from within Iran itself. But most reporting has been speculative, based on anonymous intelligence sources that cannot be independently verified.
Israel warned Iran that any attack originating from within Iranian territory would result in a direct attack by Israel on Iran. Such an attack could be limited to Iranian military bases; it could potentially involve a broader attack on Iranian nuclear sites and institutions linked to the Iranian regime itself.
World powers, aware that the confrontation could escalate into a major war, have warned Iran not to attack. Iran might also have its own reasons for refraining. Iran has been exporting war for decades, but has not had to face an attack on its own soil since the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. Israel could also use Iran’s recent threats as a legitimate reason to deploy its full strength against the regime. If that happens, the regime’s domestic opponents could rise up.
What may come is a perfunctory attack — such as the cruise missile attack against American bases in Iraq after the killing of General Qasem Soleimani in 2020 — or no attack at all. But every hour that Iran delays also weakens its ability to project power across the region. Israel may also launch a preemptive strike, given Iran’s public declared intentions.
Iran may have bluffed its way into a situation for which it was unprepared, and in which it cannot win.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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