A few days ago President Trump had a not just heated, but rather hostile and full of expletives phone conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu where Trump made clear that Israel cannot retaliate against a missile attack conducted by Iran on June 7. The reaction by some media lamented that Trump threw Israel under the bus and that Israel is turning from an ally into a vassal state, an American colony. It was predicted that Netanyahu would become subservient to Trump. Well, Israel defied Trump’s order (and this was not the first time when Israel bombed Beirut after being warned by Trump and Iran not to do so). Whereas Iranian bombs were mostly ineffectual and intercepted, Israel did some damage to military and industrial targets in Iran.

Though a new ceasefire between Israel and Iran was ordered, Israel made it clear that this does not apply to Hezbollah that announced that it would not agree to any ceasefire with Israel. And so the battle is on. Whether Trump likes it or not Israel does not have a choice but to keep fighting Hezbollah, Hamas and perhaps Iran as well (which is logistically more difficult). The irony is that after the downing of US Apache helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz by Iran America started bombing Iranian installations in retaliation.

Why cannot Israel just sit down with its enemies and discuss a path to peace as proposed by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. He and other European leaders have embedded in their minds that all these “squabbles” have an easy solution – diplomacy, and more diplomacy. Though Starmer and others recognize that it is Hezbollah that initiated hostilities they insist that it is Israel who should be the more rational and reasonable and........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)