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Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-898739
Why Israel Had to Respond to Iranian Missile Fire
(Jerusalem Post) Herb Keinon - On June 3, 1967, following Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser's closure of the Straits of Tiran, the expulsion of UN observers from Sinai, and repeated promises to drive Israel into the sea, Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol received a letter from U.S. President Lyndon Johnson that said: "I must emphasize the necessity for Israel not to make itself responsible for the initiation of hostilities. Israel will not be alone unless it decides to go alone. We cannot imagine that it will make this decision." Two days later, Israel preempted because Eshkol believed Israel was facing an existential threat and that securing the country's interests took precedence over the wishes of even its closest ally. Prime Minister Netanyahu faced a version of that dilemma on Sunday after Iran fired ballistic missiles at Israel and President Donald Trump publicly urged Israel not to respond. Netanyahu struck anyway, concluding that Israeli interests outweighed Washington's objections. A failure to respond would have allowed Iran to establish a new strategic equation, signaling that future Israeli action against Hizbullah in Beirut would trigger a direct Iranian response. The message being sent to Iran is: no terror state will dictate Israeli security policy. He also needed to project strength across the region. As former strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer has argued, one of the reasons the Abraham Accords countries moved closer to Israel was their belief that Israel would act in its own interests even when doing so meant standing up to Washington.