«Silence» and «surprise»; Israel in the face of the latest developments in the war and negotiations between Iran and the United States

🔸Israel, which was the main U.S. partner in the last two wars with the Islamic Republic, appears in the recent period to be observing in silence the stances and military actions of the United States toward Iran.

🔸However, Eli Cohen, the energy minister and a member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s party, in these days is stressing more explicitly than other Israeli officials that the best situation for Israel with regard to Iran is precisely the current atmosphere of ambiguity—where Washington has not reached an agreement with Tehran, while at the same time Iran’s severe military encirclement by the U.S. Army in the region continues and Iran’s economy is, under heavy pressures and sanctions, “bending.”

🔸Israel was unhappy with the memorandum of understanding between Islamabad and Tehran, and had described it as giving Iran major economic concessions.

🔸Mr. Cohen, who is a member of Israel’s limited security cabinet, repeated on the evening of Saturday, 24 Mordad, in a conversation with Channel Kan that the absence of an agreement between the United States and Iran better serves Israel’s interests.

🔸He emphasized that the intensification of pressure on Iran’s shaky economy—whose eventual outcome would be the collapse of the last remaining structures of Iran’s government—is a goal of Israel that is currently happening.

🔸He also told Channel 14: “In two or three years, when the Iranian government has collapsed, you will remember from what point this process began. Israel planted the necessary seeds in places, and the result will be the collapse of the Tehran regime.”

🔸Eli Cohen and other Israeli officials emphasize that Iran, which in the latest round of clashes has attacked all countries in the Middle East, does not “dare” to attack Israel due to Israel’s high deterrence capability, and it knows that Israel will respond with a severe reaction.

🔸Israeli military experts have said that their country is waiting for any such move from Iran in order to gain the necessary opportunity to repeat military operations.

🔸Israeli media report that for now this country is observing so that the U.S. president can manage this crisis, but given Tehran’s aggressive performance, Israel is completely doubtful that the course of events in the region will move toward calm.

🔸Read the full report on the Radio Farda website.