War in the Middle East: Israel is not opposed to a resumption of the conflict and new strikes in Iran

Will the war in Iran resume? Donald Trump announced on Monday May 18 that he had canceled, at the last moment, an attack on Iran at the request of the Gulf countries. It was scheduled for Tuesday May 19, but the American president had never spoken about it before. One thing is certain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are on the front line and fear a new conflagration. This is not the case for Israel and its government, which would not look unfavorably on a resumption of the conflict.

The war objectives announced by Benjamin Netanyahu have not been achieved and the nuclear program has not been destroyed. Nearly 500 kilos of near-nuclear quality uranium are still in Iran. According to the American press, Tehran has reconstituted part of its stock of ballistic missiles and has moved its launchers. The regime is still in place, like its allies in the region, including Hezbollah, which has not capitulated and continues, with its drones, to harass Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.

For the moment, the Iran campaign is, from the Israeli point of view, a failure and the Prime Minister cannot afford, in the middle of an electoral year, to run again without having kept his commitments. This is also what explains its voluntarism, especially since the political risk is limited because the war against Iran is still widely supported by public opinion convinced that it is facing an existential threat.

On the defensive level, Israel is preparing to face a possible Iranian response. At the end of March, after twenty days of war, the Israeli anti-aircraft defense was finding it increasingly difficult to cope with salvos of Iranian missiles. Tehran used submunitions, very difficult to destroy, and sent projectiles capable, for some, of passing through the cracks of the net.

Since then, Israel has been preparing for the future. The production lines for Arrow-type interceptor missiles, adapted to the ballistic threat, are operating at full capacity. The proof, on Sunday evening, a huge ball of fire lit up the sky over Ramla, in central Israel. Residents panicked and filmed, wondering if the war had resumed. It was in reality an engine test to power anti-missile missiles. A unique nocturnal test, whereas in general this type of exercise is carried out during the day, without projection of light and therefore more discreetly. A sign, therefore, that Israel is preparing for a new war while awaiting a gesture from the sole decision-maker, American President Donald Trump.