As Tehran Stirs Up Anti-Israel Sentiments, Jerusalem Preps for Iran War

Entering the final week of Ramadan, Israeli security officials are warning of pending trouble in Jerusalem, even as they plan for a future war further away. This Friday is Quds Day, an annual date created by the Iranian Islamic Republic to provoke Muslims against Israel’s hold on Jerusalem. In protests organized by the government at Tehran and other cities, Iranians carry Palestinian flags all day and chant slogans against the “Zionist entity.”As Tehran provokes anti-Israeli sentiments among Palestinians and across the Arab world, and as its proxies ramp up aggression on the country’s borders, Israelis openly talk of a pending military action to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear arms. They are also asking Washington for arms suitable for that purpose. “We held important meetings to promote significant projects focused on force buildup in the face of emerging security challenges — first and foremost, the Iranian nuclear program,” the Israeli defense ministry’s director-general, Eyal Zamir, said Thursday after meeting counterparts at Washington. Plans to end Iran’s nuclear quest are overshadowed by immediate concerns about violence during the last week of Ramadan, and as Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter this weekend. “We are in peak days of security tension,” an Israeli opposition leader and former defense minister, Benny Gantz, tweeted on Friday, praising soldiers and police on alert during the holidays.Tens of thousands Muslim worshippers prayed at Jerusalem holy mosques today on the final Friday of Ramadan. Despite attempts by agitators to provoke authorities, the prayers went as smoothly as can be expected.Hamas, by now almost a wholly owned Iranian subsidiary, was hoping for more violence. Earlier during Ramadan, footage of confrontation between armed youths who barricaded themselves inside al Aqsa enraged the entire Muslim world. Israeli security forces have evidently rethought their tactics, which as yet allows for a tense lull in violence. Meanwhile, Iranian proves are also attempting to agitate a confrontation between Israeli authorities and Christians. Concerned about overflow of Easter worshippers, Israel limited the number of permits it issued to Christians who wished to attend “Fire Saturday” at Jerusalem’s Church of the Sepulcher. Hamas protested a complete ban on Christians asking to travel to Jerusalem from Gaza. Meanwhile, widely watched video footage showed six Yeshiva-aged Orthodox Jews at Jerusalem’s old city spitting on the ground as they walked past two nuns. The video shocked Israelis and Arabs alike and added to the tensions between Jews and Christians, helping the Iran-inspired campaign against Israel. That campaign was elevated during Ramadan, when Israel was attacked with rocket salvos from Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza, amplifying Iran’s goal of uniting its proxies in multi-front attacks. At the same time the Israeli Defense Force is conducting regular air and artillery attacks against Iranian bases in Lebanon and Syria, as well as against Hamas in Gaza.As Israel attempts to contain local skirmishes and avoid an all-out war, it is increasingly aware that sooner or later it would need to go after Iran’s fast advancing nuclear program.The Biden administration is reportedly proposing to Tehran a plan for an interim agreement that would freeze Iranian uranium enrichment at the 60 percent purity level and ease American sanctions. Yet, ever since Prime Minister Netayahu famously drew a cartoon of a bomb at the United Nations in 2012, Israeli officials of all political parties have said that Iranian enrichment at 60 percent would be their “red line.” As yet, Tehran is adamantly resisting Washington’s diplomatic freeze-for-freeze initiative. Israelis, however, are not waiting. Instead, and even as the country goes through an internal turmoil and is attacked by Iranian proxies, IDF planners are preparing plans to halt the nuclear program militarily. “We need to prepare for the war,” for which the main component would be a long-distance attack, a former national security adviser, Yaakov Amidror, said in an interview to Tel Aviv’s 103FM radio station on Thursday. “It could be that within the next year we would get to the point where we would have to strike Iran to stop its nuclear program.”Mr. Amidror added that as in the past, Israel does not need to involve America in a decision to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. The IDF recently completed a deal with Boeing to purchase 25 F-15EX fighter jets that are capable of carrying bunker-busting bombs, as well as refueling jets that could help extend the reach of aircraft to hit Iranian targets. The IDF is urging Boeing to push up delivery dates. As the Islamic Republic’s proxies increase their aggression, and as Tehran encourages them to coordinate attacks from multiple fronts, the security challenges Israel is facing grow.Regardless of the level of violence at Jerusalem in the coming week, tensions will not disappear after Muslims celebrate Eid el Fitr next Thursday, at the end of Ramadan. Sooner or later Israel will need to deal with the octopus’s head, rather than just fighting its multiple tentacles.

As Tehran Stirs Up Anti-Israel Sentiments, Jerusalem Preps for Iran War

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