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Iran Counts on U.S. to Check Israeli Strength
(Wall Street Journal) Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takyeh - Iran routinely depicts the Jewish state as irreversibly in decline. Yet the killing of Hamas's political leader Ismail Haniyeh shows that Israel can get its man, anytime, anyplace. Israel is testing the proposition that all militant Muslims welcome martyrdom. It's not unlikely that Tehran believed that by inflaming Israel's frontiers with deadly attacks by its proxies, it could provoke the international community to impose a ceasefire on Israel. Both the Biden administration and the Europeans have acted helpfully, dispatching a parade of mediators seeking a ceasefire. In that scenario, a battered Hamas would survive to fight another day, and Hizbullah's large missile stockpiles would remain, deterring Israel and the U.S. from attacks on Iran. Should Washington warn Iran clearly that if Tehran retaliates against Israel, the U.S. will intervene in the conflict on Jerusalem's side - and far more muscularly than before - the mullahs will take note and proceed more cautiously. They still respect American power and understand that their regime can't afford a conflict with the U.S. Regrettably, the Biden administration has so far taken the opposite path. Mr. Gerecht is a resident scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Mr. Takeyh is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.