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Israel Is Not Iran's Primary Concern
(Medialine) Charles Bybelezer - Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Amos Gilad, former director of policy and political-military affairs at the Israeli Defense Ministry, said, "The Iranians need to be concerned about the United States and I think they are. You cannot compare Iran's military might to that of America and [Iran] knows this. Also, nobody expected [Trump] to order the targeted killing of Soleimani and he could end up carrying out 'shock and awe' attacks against Iran if U.S. soldiers or interests are harmed moving forward." Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Giora Eiland, former head of Israel's National Security Council, said he does not envision Iran initiating "comprehensive attacks" or a "full-scale war" against Israel until achieving at least one of the following goals: "The first is to develop nuclear weapons. The second condition would be for Iran to successfully build in Syria an organization similar in military capabilities to Hizbullah, and the third is to develop a critical mass of precision missiles" that would pose a major threat to the Israeli home front. Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, former head of the Research Division of IDF Military Intelligence and now Director of the Project on Regional Middle East Developments at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, highlighted the multitude of problems Iran is facing. "The regime is under economic sanctions that deprive it of its main oil income and that will continue to damage other sectors of the Iranian economy in the coming months. Tehran also has issues in its satellite states, such as Iraq and, to a lesser degree, Lebanon, and it has a shortage of funds to address this." Moreover, Iran's weak response to losing Soleimani "has led to a growing threat to the stability of the regime, and the worst part for Iran is that the only way to solve its problems is to accede to the American demand to come back to the table and renegotiate the nuclear deal."