Four days ago I suggested that the reason Israel assassinated the Popular Resistance Committee leader Zuhair Qaisi in Gaza may have had less to do with foiling an attack and much more to do with testing Iron Dome. Yousef at The Jerusalem Fund agrees, saying that a successful test of the missile defense system could go a long way to assuage the Israeli public’s fears about retaliation from Iran following an Israeli attack.
The greatest obstacle to Israeli public support for a unilateral Israeli strike on Iran is the belief that the consequences of the attack from Iran, Hezbollah and other factions like Islamic Jihad, would be too high a cost to bear.
What could the Israeli government do to change this perception? Well, a successful large scale live action test of the US funded Iron Dome would probably help, and assassinating a PRC militant would provoke the projectiles to trigger one.
In the glow of the test’s successful outcome, Israel’s defense minister Ehud Barak didn’t even seem to think it was worth the effort to perpetuate the narrative that Qaisi had ever posed an imminent threat. After the militant leader’s assassination, Barak said: “it is not completely clear what the plan was and where, or if it had been foiled.”
Did Israel provoke Gaza escalation to test Iron Dome?
A rhetorical question, I presume.
RE: “Did Israel provoke Gaza escalation to test Iron Dome?” ~ Woodward
MY ANSWER: I suspect it was all just part of a well orchestrated international sales campaign.
SEE: Rafael hopes Iron Dome success will up int’l sales, by Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post, 3/12/12
ENTIRE ARTICLE – http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=261608
If they think Iron Dome will protect from Iran’s retaliation because it stopped a few homemade rockets from imprisoned “militants” in Gaza, they are likely to get a nasty shock if they continue .
Two birds with the one stone sounds more likely to me.
The problem with Spooks is their professional paranoia. If one wants to see threats, weaknesses you can ALWAYS find some., the trick is to see things in proportion . Sadly Spooks see things in terms of extreme black or white. i.e. you’re either so nationalistic that you’re a spook in waiting or a diabolical enemy. In their mind set the end always justifies the means.
Mossad have as flawed record as anyone else Have a read of this article, in my sense is plausible either way. all that it has perfected is it’s own version of psychopathy.
Either the USSR ambassador was well into the paranoia or it has some basis of truth.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/02/22/what-really-happened-in-the-yom-kippur-war/ ….better than a John Lacare novel.
Israel’s civilians are under constant attack from Gaza. Hamas has pledged Israel’s destruction. Israel was able to intercept an attack before it occurred, which resulted in this round of rockets being fired into Israel (rockets are always being fired and the target is Israeli civilians). As far as Rosemary’s comment regarding Israel getting a “nasty shock” from Iran if they continue, what are you implying? That Iran is planning to destroy Israel? Iran has openly stated its intention and desire, so this is nothing knew. Israel is a small country and vulnerable; that is why it needs to take threats seriously. But make no mistake, if Iran uses non-conventional weapons, within minutes Iran and its population of 80 million would disappear from its Earth. In case you haven’t noticed, Israel can respond by air, sea and land. The Israelis of course do not want a major war with Iran, but the danger is that Iran thinks it is “going to heaven” for committing genocide, even it results in the destruction of its entire population.
It’s unfortunately easy for those with a paranoiac fixation on the idea that Israel faces a constant threat of annihilation to project that fear. No doubt Ahmadinejad has on occasions made statements that feed the paranoia, yet Iran’s actions are invariably cautious. Considering that Iran’s nuclear program began in the 1950s, it has advanced at a snail’s pace. As for the idea that it has suicidal ambitions, this is an idea that is not even taken seriously by Israel’s own security experts including those who advise Netanyahu. It is an idea promoted for consumption by those whose own addiction to fear has crippled their capacity to reason.