\n<\/p>\n
Washington, DC<\/strong> \u2013 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been warning of a grave Iranian threat to Israel and the world for more than 30 years.<\/p>\n United States President Donald Trump heeded those warnings in June and bombed Tehran\u2019s nuclear facilities. But it appears that Netanyahu is still not satisfied and will be pushing for more military actions against Iran when he returns to the US on Sunday to visit Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n This time, the focus is on Iran\u2019s missile programme.<\/p>\n Israeli officials and their US allies are beating the drums of war against Iran once again, arguing that Tehran\u2019s missiles must be addressed urgently.<\/p>\n But analysts said another clash with Iran would stand in stark opposition to Trump\u2019s stated foreign policy priorities.<\/p>\n Sina Toossi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy think tank, said that while Trump is pushing to deepen economic cooperation and forge diplomatic ties between Israel and Arab states, Netanyahu is seeking military domination over the region.<\/p>\n \u201cThis desire for perpetual US involvement, for perpetual wars against Iran to really break the Iranian state reflects Israel\u2019s aim for unchallenged dominance, unchallenged hegemony and expansionism,\u201d Toossi said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd so I think that\u2019s at the root of Netanyahu\u2019s goals and the direction he wants to push the US into supporting, but that\u2019s going to come to a head with US interests going in another direction and wanting more stability in the region that doesn\u2019t necessitate direct American military involvement.\u201d<\/p>\n Since brokering a truce in Gaza, which Israel has been violating almost daily, Trump, who portrays himself as a peacemaker, has been claiming that he brought peace to the Middle East for the first time in 3,000 years.<\/p>\n And his administration\u2019s recently released National Security Strategy says the region is \u201cemerging as a place of partnership, friendship, and investment\u201d that is no longer a priority for the US.<\/p>\n As the US promises to diminish its military and strategic footprint in the Middle East, Israel appears to be lobbying for a war that could drag Washington into conflict.<\/p>\n In past decades, Israel has drummed up Iran\u2019s nuclear programme as the top threat to its security and the world.<\/p>\n But Trump has been insisting that the US strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities in June wiped out the programme.<\/p>\n Regardless of the accuracy of Trump\u2019s assessment, his proclamation has pushed Israel to find another boogeyman, analysts said, to avoid contradicting the US president publicly.<\/p>\n Trita Parsi, executive vice president at the Quincy Institute, a US think tank that promotes diplomacy, said that since Trump has declared \u201crightly or wrongly\u201d the nuclear issue resolved, Israel is switching the focus to missiles to keep the pressure on Tehran.<\/p>\n \u201cNetanyahu is pushing the United States to join Israel in yet another war with Iran, this time with a focus on the missiles, partly because Trump is not receptive to the idea of addressing the nuclear issue \u2013 since he has said that he fixed it, he \u2018obliterated\u2019 the programme,\u201d Parsi told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Israelis will constantly shift the goal posts in order to make sure that they can make the confrontation with Iran an endless, forever war.\u201d<\/p>\n Iran has always maintained that its nuclear programme is peaceful, unlike Israel, which is widely believed to possess an undeclared nuclear arsenal.<\/p>\n Tehran has also never launched missiles at Israel unprompted.<\/p>\n During the June war, Iran fired hundreds of missiles towards Israel, dozens of which penetrated the country\u2019s multilayered air defences, but it was Israel that launched the war without apparent provocation.<\/p>\n Still, Israel and its allies have been sounding the alarm about the Iranian missile programme, warning that Tehran is recovering and increasing its production capacity.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile Israel\u2019s Operation Rising Lion succeeded in destroying much of Iran\u2019s ballistic missile capabilities, Israel estimates that some 1,500 missiles remain out of the 3,000 Iran had previously,\u201d the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) said in an email to supporters this month.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ballistic missile threat from Iran will be on the agenda when Prime Minister Netanyahu travels to Florida on Sunday and meets with President Trump Monday at Mar-a-Lago.\u201d<\/p>\n Senator Lindsey Graham, an Iran hawk who is close to Trump, visited Israel this month and repeated the talking points about the dangers of Iran\u2019s long-range missiles, warning that Iran is producing them \u201cin very high numbers\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe cannot allow Iran to produce ballistic missiles because they could overwhelm the Iron Dome,\u201d he told The Jerusalem Post, referring to Israel\u2019s air defence system. \u201cIt\u2019s a major threat.\u201d<\/p>\n Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has also highlighted Iran\u2019s missile capacity, suggesting that Netanyahu\u2019s government will not tolerate any threats in the region.<\/p>\n \u201cThe defence establishment is closely monitoring developments, and naturally, I cannot elaborate beyond that,\u201d Katz was quoted as saying by The Times of Israel.<\/p>\n \u201cBut on one principle, there is no dispute: What was before October 7 will not be again,\u201d he was quoted as saying in reference to the 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel. \u201cWe will not allow threats of annihilation against the state of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n But critics said Israel is seeking hegemony in the region, not merely snuffing out existential threats.<\/p>\n Its ultimate goal is seen as changing Iran\u2019s government or carrying out periodic strikes to keep the country weakened and without meaningful military capabilities.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Israelis will come back every six months with another plan to bomb Iran, and then it will not end until Trump decides to end it,\u201d Parsi told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n \u201cSo if he acquiesces again, as he did in June, he will face the Israelis once again next June with another war plan, and next December and next June again. It will not stop until he stops it.\u201d<\/p>\n Foreign policy hawks who advocate for a change in Iran\u2019s government once dominated Trump\u2019s Republican Party.<\/p>\n But partly thanks to Trump himself, now large segments of the base staunchly oppose military interventions and favour focusing on US problems.<\/p>\n That America First movement, represented by influential right-wing media figures like Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon, pleaded with Trump against attacking Iran in June.<\/p>\n Even the late Charlie Kirk, a close Trump ally and staunch Israel supporter, spoke out against US involvement in the war.<\/p>\n Carlson has already slammed Israel\u2019s renewed push for war.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been less than six months since Trump risked a war with Iran on Netanyahu\u2019s behalf, but instead of acting grateful, the prime minister is already demanding more,\u201d he wrote in his newsletter this month. \u201cThis is the definition of a parasitic relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n However, the Republican caucus in Congress remains overwhelmingly aligned with Israel, and Trump\u2019s top foreign policy aide, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is an Iran hawk.<\/p>\n Pro-Israel megadonors who helped bankroll Trump\u2019s campaign, like\u00a0Miriam Adelson, will also likely exert counterpressure against the America First voices in the Trump movement.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThose are hugely important factors, but I think it\u2019s important to understand that they go both ways,\u201d Parsi said of the domestic considerations for war with Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cThe voters don\u2019t want this. The donors \u2013 at least a large number of them \u2013 want this. And come midterm elections [in November 2026], those are going to be two pressures in opposite directions from two groups, both of whom Trump believes that he needs.\u201d<\/p>\n Toossi said political calculations for a war with Iran are more relevant now than they were in June because we are closer to the 2026 elections, which will decide who controls Congress.<\/p>\n \u201cTrump\u2019s popularity is very low now with the affordability crisis and this conservative fissure over foreign policy. So I think all of these factors serve as a limitation on Trump\u2019s ability to get into a big war,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Trump was able to claim victory after the US strikes in June.<\/p>\n He backed Israel, damaged the Iranian nuclear programme and kept his base intact without dragging the US into another protracted conflict.<\/p>\n After an Iranian missile attack against a US base in Qatar, which did not result in American casualties, Trump announced a ceasefire to end the war after 12 days.<\/p>\n But analysts warned that a second round of bombardment against Iran may not be as easy to end.<\/p>\n Parsi said the restraint that Iran showed in June is unlikely to be replicated because Tehran\u2019s unwillingness to escalate was perceived as weakness by the Western world.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Iranian response would be much harsher, much quicker because the Iranians understand that unless they strike back hard and dispel the view that Iran is a country that you can bomb every six months \u2013 unless they do that \u2013 Iran will become a country that Israel will bomb every six months,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Parsi warned that Israel may start attacking Iran unilaterally and count on US air defences in the region to come to its aid, slowly pulling the US into the conflict.<\/p>\n He said Trump must stop Israel from launching an attack from the start.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they don\u2019t want Israel to start that war, you tell Israel, \u2018Don\u2019t start that war. And we are completely out.\u2019 That would be the America First position to take,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Parsi invoked Trump\u2019s National Security Strategy (NSS), which stated that Washington\u2019s \u201chistoric reason for focusing on the Middle East will recede\u201d as the region moves towards greater cooperation and less conflict.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, then, recede,\u201d Parsi said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo many administrations in a row have said something along these lines, whether in the NSS or outside of it. Then do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Washington, DC \u2013 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been warning of a grave Iranian threat to Israel and the world for more than 30 years. United States President Donald Trump heeded those warnings in June and bombed Tehran\u2019s nuclear facilities. But it appears that Netanyahu is still not satisfied and will be pushing for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-canada-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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