Mossad Director David Barnea indicated on Monday that if Iranian proxies target Israel, Iran would be held responsible, something that could drive up the cost to Iran’s regime. Iran will now not have the impunity to operate from afar – attacking via Hezbollah, Hamas, or others – and not also be at risk of retaliation.
“If Iranian proxies come after us, we will hit Iran directly,” he said. “We will convince the leader [Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei] that terror is not worth it and too costly.”
The Mossad thwarted numerous terrorist attacks against Israelis and Jews worldwide, Barnea said.
“We will not take part in this charade,” he said. “We will not close our eyes to the proven truth. The Iranian regime will have no immunity. The Iranian leadership must understand that attacks against Israel or Israelis, directly or indirectly by proxies, will be met with a painful retaliation… We will not pursue the proxies, but the ones who armed them and gave the orders, and this will happen in Iran.”
“We will not close our eyes to the proven truth. The Iranian regime will have no immunity. The Iranian leadership must understand that attacks against Israel or Israelis, directly or indirectly by proxies, will be met with a painful retaliation… We will not pursue the proxies, but the ones who armed them and gave the orders, and this will happen in Iran.”
Mossad Director David Barnea
The comments indicate that the Iranian leadership needs to understand that its attacks against Israel, or Israelis abroad, will not go unpunished.
This doctrine, however, is not new and was actually spelled out by former prime minister Naftali Bennett in June, when he said Israel was “implementing the Octopus Doctrine… We no longer play with the tentacles, with Iran’s proxies: We’ve created a new equation by going for the head.”
One commentator, Tariq al-Homayed, summarized it this way: “It is evident that there is a noticeable escalation of Israeli operations inside Iran, not only against prominent figures linked to the nuclear program but also military personnel and lower-level scientists.”
The price that Iran may pay could be more complex, involving its need to reshuffle key officials because of scandals closer to home. But Iran doesn’t appear to feel deterred. It is deterred in a sense from direct action against Israel, but Hezbollah is still portrayed as being ready for a confrontation with Israel.
Clearly, Iran is still ready to put down some verbal redlines. Over the last year, it has continued to harass and threaten ships, it builds new drones that it says can reach Tel Aviv, and it showcased new missiles during a ground forces drill.
Overall, the picture that is emerging is that the campaign between the wars, in which Israel works to prevent Iran’s entrenchment in Syria, could reach a new phase via a variety of means. This may include the recent airstrikes against international airports in Syria.
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