Occupied Jerusalem
- At a time when eyes are turning to the Austrian capital Vienna to resume indirect negotiations between America and Iran to revive the nuclear agreement, the Israeli occupation army recently conducted a secret maneuver simulating an attack on "long-range" targets, including in Iran, in the presence of an American officer who participated as an observer.
The operational exercises of the maneuver were conducted with the participation of dozens of aircraft from the Israeli Air Force and included several scenarios;
Including refueling in the air, attacking a long-range target, and dealing with "surface-to-air" missiles, the maneuver came in light of the last and decisive stages of the Vienna negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program, and the possibility of returning to the agreement or its failure.
Against the diplomatic track led by Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett reiterated his statements on Iran;
That any nuclear agreement will not deter Tel Aviv from achieving its goals, and continuing to work against the Iranian nuclear program, regardless of the results of the Vienna negotiations aimed at reviving the nuclear agreement, expressing his hope that "the negotiations will end without an agreement."
"In both cases, our campaign continues, measures to weaken Iran have begun and are being implemented in all its dimensions: nuclear, economic, cyber, covert and overt," Bennett said - during his opening speech at the annual conference of the Institute for National Security Research at Tel Aviv University.
Military helicopters take part in the secret Israeli maneuver (Photo by the Israeli Air Force)
Indications and components
Israeli analysts and researchers believe that the administration of US President Joe Biden still wants to renew or reach a new agreement with Iran through diplomacy, but this administration has come to realize that diplomacy alone will not achieve anything from the Iranians, according to these analysts.
In the face of Biden's diplomacy, all the components and elements indicate that Israel is moving towards preparing to take a decision to implement the specific threat against Iran if necessary, which was expressed by the statements of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, and Defense Minister Benny Gantz, and the messages that Bennett passed during His meeting with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
This reflects the military offensive and intelligence cooperation that already exists between the US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) and the Ministry of Security in Tel Aviv in everything related to the Islamic State, the Iranian military positioning and armed organizations loyal to it in Syria and Iraq, and joint operational cooperation in the Red Sea arena.
But when it comes to a direct confrontation with Iran, most Israeli analysts agree that the United States is ready - only for the time being - for defense cooperation by warning of missile attacks, strengthening Israel's missile interception systems, dealing with cruise missiles, and confronting drones that would attack Israeli sites and targets.
Diplomatic and military
The Israeli journalist who specializes in Arab affairs, Yoav Shtern, believes that the Israeli maneuvers and the diplomatic movement of the Bennett government are aimed above all at convincing Washington of Israel's view of the necessity of brandishing the military option alongside diplomacy, and even preparing for a military attack in the event that negotiations fail, as well as forming an Israeli-American alliance with the participation of countries Arab against Iran.
Shtern asserts - to Al Jazeera Net - that the Israeli approach and measures come to strengthen US diplomacy in the face of the Iranians and make it more effective.
He pointed out that this needs to activate two additional levers: "pressure" and "deterrence", in order for the Iranians to stop slowing down in the Vienna negotiations and obstructing their plan to produce several atomic warheads.
The Israeli journalist explains that Bennett is cooperating happily with the American deterrence project led by Sullivan, because it fits perfectly with the mood of his electoral base in the right-wing camp.
There are many restrictions that prevent Israel from carrying out attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities at the current stage. “Israel cannot destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities alone, and it needs the support and partnership of Washington, as most political leaders in Israel realize that they have no chance to convince Biden and his administration By abandoning the Vienna negotiations and the diplomatic track to return to the nuclear agreement.
cooperation and coordination
And the military analyst of the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Ron Ben-Yishai, believes that the maneuver reflects the crystallized cooperation between Israel and the United States against Iran, for the first time in a long time, and it is cooperation and coordination that harmonizes with the statements of officials in Tel Aviv and Washington, as part of the efforts to bring down Tehran. about the ceiling of its demands, and forcing it to make concessions.
Ron Ben-Yishai explains that talking about maneuvers and coordination of positions between Washington and Tel Aviv, and even putting the military option on the agenda;
These are all measures aimed at pushing the Iranians to recalculate the course of the negotiations taking place in Vienna between Iran and the great powers.
The military analyst believes that Israeli-American cooperation and avoiding a public clash between the two countries aims to put pressure on Tehran to persuade it to agree to restrict uranium enrichment and increase UN supervision over its nuclear facilities, in exchange for an American agreement to lift sanctions.
Among the additional elements of US-Israeli cooperation and coordination - says Roy Ben-Yishai - "the recent statements and speeches of the Israeli political leadership provided a specific political framework for the picture of the capabilities to attack in Iran identified by the leaders of the Air Force, so that the threat to launch an attack on Iran, which the generals are talking about, be It must be credible and backed up by a clear statement from the political level."
deterrence and threat
The elements of cooperation and harmony between Washington and Tel Aviv in the international diplomatic language - according to the military analyst - at least for the time being, carry a yellow light from Washington for the political and military leadership in Israel to do what they believe is necessary against Iran, but without taking risks.
Roy Ben-Yishai explains that this does not mean that America has given Israel the green light to attack Iran, as there is no decisive and principled decision by Washington, which has not indicated that it supports or will participate in any Israeli attack targeting Iranian nuclear facilities, but rather sends - by showing cooperation and coordination with Tel Aviv - messages of deterrence and a veiled threat to Tehran.
The military analyst concludes by saying that "the United States is cooperating with Israel in gathering intelligence in Iran and in offensive cyber operations that have disrupted in the past - and are expected to implement in the future - Iran's military nuclear project. This is not a small matter, but it is important to emphasize that the Biden administration - Like its predecessors - it is not ready to attack Iran."