This weekend’s airstrikes in the Middle East set numerous records. Iran carried out its first direct attack on Israel from Iranian territory, launching an unprecedented swarm of drones and missiles at Israeli military bases. And for the first time in history, American troops are engaged in direct combat in defense of Israeli territory.
The US military shot down three Iranian ballistic missiles and 70 drones that were en route to Israeli military bases, officials told CNN. American ships and fighter planes were involved in the operation. Videos shared online also show US ground troops in Iraqi Kurdistan firing anti-aircraft missiles. The British and French armies assisted in the operation, and Jordan reportedly shot down Iranian drones over its airspace.
Although Israel and its protectors stopped most Iranian air strikes, Iranian state media said Israel’s Nevatim air base was “severely damaged” and put out of action. Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari denied this, saying Nevatim was only slightly damaged and “continues to carry out its tasks”. No deaths were reported.
Iran was responding to the Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, on April 1. That attack killed 16 people, including an Iranian general.
President Joe Biden, after months of pledging his full support for Israel, may have finally grasped the turning point. After Saturday’s airstrikes, he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States would not support an Israeli counterattack against Iran, he said. Axiosbecause Israel “has already won a victory. Take the victory.” The New York Times reports that some members of the Israeli war cabinet wanted to attack Iran immediately, but that Biden’s call dissuaded them from doing so.
Publicly, Biden condemned the “unprecedented airstrike against military facilities in Israel” and vowed to “coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack.” She confirmed that “we have not seen any attacks against our forces or facilities today.”
Israel’s – and America’s – next move is still uncertain.
Although the United States had was not informed of the attack on the consulate in advance, Biden immediately intervened to help Israel. When Iran threatened retaliation, Biden promised to concede to Israel”battleship” and to “do everything possible to protect the security of Israel.” And had General Michael Kurilla, head of all US forces in the Middle East, fly to Israel a few days before the Iranian retaliation.
Iran and Israel have been issuing violent threats and proxy attacks to each other for decades. While Iran armed Hamas and other Palestinian rebelsIsrael has assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists AND bombed Iranian troops in Iraq and Syria with tacit support from the United States.
Hamas attacks in October 2023 and Israel’s subsequent invasion of Gaza have intensified the conflict across the region. Iranian-backed forces in Yemen attacked Israeli ships, Iranian-backed paramilitaries in Lebanon fired on the Israeli border, and Iranian-backed militias in Iraq broke their truce with the US Army.
Israeli leaders have made it clear that they want to escalate the situation and that they believe they have the American green light. Biden had to do it speak in a low voice Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant from the launch of a large-scale attack on Lebanon at the beginning of the war. But the American president refused place no effective limits about how many weapons the United States would send to Israel or how Israel might use those weapons.
Early in the war, Biden demonstrated that he was willing to put American lives in danger for the defense of Israel. Even if his administration He insisted that he had “no plan or intention to put American forces on the ground in combat,” Biden said deployed two aircraft carriers in the region as a threat to any other country that might join the war against Israel.
From the perspective of Israeli leaders, the attack on the consulate was a win-win situation. Either Tehran will not react, making Iranian leaders appear weak, or it will not I wanted react, forcing Biden to keep his commitments and assert the power of the United States against Iran.
Iranian leaders chose the second scenario, betting that Biden’s commitment to Israel was not as “ironclad” as he had claimed. Explaining Tehran’s reasons, an Iranian source told news site Amwaj.media on Thursday that “the United States is not ready to go to war with Iran.” But although Biden has come to Israel’s defense, he appears unwilling to push the conflict further.
The American people have been completely left out of the conversation. Congress has not approved a declaration of war against Iran either authorization to use military force against Iranian troops. He didn’t even pass the additional aid package to Israel that Biden asked for.
Lawmakers from both parties called this weekend for Congress to approve the package, even as Democrats and Republicans disagree over whether it should also include aid to Ukraine.
This wasn’t the only way lawmakers reacted differently to the airstrikes. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) required that Biden “launches aggressive retaliatory strikes against Iran.” Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), on the other hand, called for “calm and restraint.” Without naming Israel or Iran, libertarian-leaning Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) was more frank about what’s at stake more than anyone else: “I’m already against the next war.”