Two leaders obsessed by their political legacies, and one also by his own cult of personality, are escalating the already highly tense situation in the Middle East to dangerous new peaks.
Israel’s unprovoked attack on Iran this month marks the riskiest chapter yet of a dream that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been chasing for four decades: regime change in Tehran.
Israel seems determined to modify in its favour, once and for all, the overall strategic balance of the Middle East. Its ongoing quest to destroy Hamas and ethnically cleanse Gaza must be framed in this context, alongside the decapitation of Hezbollah’s political and military leadership in Lebanon.Â
To a certain extent, the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria fits into the same strategy, even if the final chapter of the Syrian ordeal has not been written yet – and it may not necessarily be positive for Israel.
Now Netanyahu has decided to attack Iran – not with a ground invasion, which would be militarily impossible, but through precision air strikes to eliminate the nation’s military leadership and the capabilities that Israel deems most dangerous to its own existence, including nuclear and ballistic-missile sites.
