The Israeli government defined its goals in the war against Iran to be the elimination of Iran's nuclear program and removing the threat from the Iranian ballistic missiles project that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said could reach an arsenal of tens of thousands, within a few years.
According to Netanyahu, both goals were critical to Israel's survival and Israel had no alternative but to launch a military strike after years of international sanctions, UN resolutions and endless negotiations that only allowed Iran to play out the clock while they continued to pursue their ambitions.
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Ali Khamenei, Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump
(Photo: Getty Images, GPO, Evelyn Hockstein / Reuters/handout, Getty Images, IDF Spokesperson's Office)
Although Israel did not include bringing down the Ayatollah regime as a goal in the war, according to a report in the New York Times, Israeli officials no longer disqualify a possible targeted killing of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.
Iran cannot deal with the threat from the Israeli Air Force after its aerial defenses were systematically destroyed. It can only target Israel's civilian areas in response to the IDF strikes on its nuclear and military sites, the killing of its senior security officials and the expanding attacks on its infrastructure.
Iran maintains a stockpile of long-range missiles, which it built recognizing its limitations in other areas. Although Israel has an aerial defense array, it is not foolproof, as the rising casualty toll and massive damage to Israel's cities show.
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Iran may not be targeting Israel's civilian areas in its attacks and may be attempting to hit military bases, as it had done in the previous rounds of fire in October and April last year. But the regime was taking a massive risk if it ignored the scope of Israel's response to civilian casualties, officials said: "They are playing with fire."
The officials in Jerusalem admit Israel cannot bring down the Iranian regime in its military assault. Iran has a population of 100 million and is 63 times the size of Israel. NBC reported that Netanyahu requested that the United States join Israel in attacking Iran, but it is unclear if and when the Trump administration would agree. The Israeli officials, however, do not want to be seen as dragging the U.S. into a regional war while the president was still talking about a possible negotiated nuclear deal.
Israel was expecting Hezbollah forces to attack in support of Iran after the Israeli strikes began. Officials said they may be hesitating to gamble on "a dead horse," but Arab media reports over the weekend claimed the Beirut government cautioned Hezbollah against taking any action. All that might change under pressure from Iran.
On Saturday, the IDF called up a reserve division to bolster security along the borders with Lebanon and Syria and to increase the protection of communities in the north.