Cabinet Meets as Assessment Says the Ceasefire Depends on Lebanon, Not Iran
Israel assesses that the ceasefire with Iran is indeed fragile, but depends on what happens in Lebanon, not on events in Iran. This was reported tonight, Monday, on the Kan News broadcast. Against this backdrop, there was also progress in contacts between Iran and the United States.
Yesterday, during the situation assessments held in Israel after the strike in the Dahieh district of Beirut, the security establishment was divided over whether Iran would respond to the attack. A Israeli source said the assessment was "fifty-fifty" regarding the chances of fire originating from Iran.
Tonight, the cabinet convened for its first discussion since the current round against Iran. The position of the security establishment and the political echelon is that Israel must stand by the decision to strike in Dahieh in Beirut in response to the launches at Israeli communities. The meaning is that Israel has moved from a formula of "quiet will be met with quiet" to "fire will be met with fire."
Meanwhile, the IDF strike early this morning in Tehran was carried out by launching a missile from some distance from an aircraft, and not by striking with aircraft over Tehran. According to sources, the Air Force attacks were carried out in a "stand-off launch" format, and not in a "stand-in" format. However, in the first wave in Iran, the IDF struck air defense systems in order to begin establishing the path to air superiority, should the political echelon instruct it to do so and strike over Iranian skies.
Earlier tonight, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the threats from Tehran that it would renew fire if Israel attacks in Lebanon, and said: "In the past 24 hours, Iran and Hezbollah tried to impose on us a new equation, it is intolerable and unacceptable to me."
Defense Minister Israel Katz also responded to the threats, saying: "The Dahieh in Beirut will be treated the same as the communities in the north. Any attack on the communities in the north will lead to an attack in the Dahieh. The IDF will continue to operate in Lebanon against Hezbollah. We categorically reject Iran's threats. Any Iranian attempt to link Lebanon and Iran and attack Israel will be met with great force, as happened yesterday."
