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Israel Is Fighting a Single, Multifront War with Iran

(Atlantic) Eliot A. Cohen - Over the past year, after suffering a devastating surprise and brutal losses, Israel has achieved remarkable military successes. Yahya Sinwar is dead, as are most of his senior subordinates and military commanders. What had been a Hamas army of tens of thousands has been shattered, with half of the fighters dead, by Israeli estimates, and many others wounded or in captivity. To the north, the head of Lebanese Hizbullah, Hassan Nasrallah, is dead. So is his successor. So is Fuad Shukr, Hizbullah's most important military figure. And so is most of the rest of the high command. Most of Hizbullah's missiles and rockets have been destroyed. And on top of it all, Iran has thrown two punches at Israel that were deflected and defeated by American and Israeli defenses. On a recent trip to Israel, I found that Israel's military and intelligence leaders now understand their war differently. The Israeli high command now sees all of these conflicts as elements of a single, multifront war with Iran. It believes the purpose of the attacks by Iranian proxies was not to inflict damage upon Israel, but to destroy it. "They thought they could conquer Israel," one sobered general told me. "I had not fully understood that." "We're no longer afraid of casualties," a colonel told me. "I lost 10 guys, and nothing stopped. We don't go to the funerals; we'll visit after the war." Israel is girding itself for the daunting prospect of a long war against Iran, no matter what American and European leaders might wish. The Israelis grimly believe, and with reason, that they have no choice but to continue fighting. Israel is engaged in an existential war of a kind that most of us in the West cannot appreciate unless we go there, observe, and listen. The writer is a professor emeritus at Johns Hopkins University.
2024-11-21 00:00:00
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