Netanyahu Pulls Trigger on Iran Attack After 30-Year Wait Story by Ethan Bronner

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/after-30-years-of-hesitation-netanyahu-pulled-the-trigger/ar-AA1GFxwS

(Bloomberg) — Benjamin Netanyahu has said for three decades that the central threat to Israel’s existence is Iran’s nuclear program. At least twice over that period, he came within inches of carrying out an attack on it.

Now, at age 75, the Israeli premier has launched the biggest strike on Iran in his country’s history. It’s an operation of enormous risk and promise that will define the legacy of Israel’s longest-serving leader — and upend the Mideast.

In a speech to the nation Friday evening, Netanyahu said he ordered preparations for the assault back in November. But the audacious attack was the result of a confluence of factors dating back years.

Hamas’ deadly 2023 attack forced a rethinking of how Israel defends itself and allowed its military to decimate threats from Iranian proxies like Hezbollah. After years of efforts, Israeli intelligence had penetrated Iran so deeply it could strike its protected nuclear program from inside the country. A supportive US president and a hawkish circle in the Israeli leadership made it possible for Netanyahu, his own popularity tarnished, to make the move he’d avoided for so long.

A day after the first wave of attacks — hundreds of warplanes hit hundreds of sites 1700 km (1000 miles) away — it’s far too early to assess how this new war will develop and whether it will expand beyond Iran and Israel.

But initial reports have led Israeli commentators to argue that the operation is so far a success: a dozen top Iranian military officials and nuclear scientists killed, a major nuclear site badly damaged and Iran’s capacity to retaliate curbed. Late Friday, Israel said it had hit another nuclear installation, this time in Isfahan.

Shortly afterward, Iran launched missiles at Israel and residents were ordered to shelters. Authorities reported several people were injured by the attacks in the central part of the country. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, vowed to “act forcefully” and avenge the Israeli strikes. That retaliation is expected both directly and indirectly, and Israel’s assault is due to last days or weeks. 

Since thousands of Iran-backed Hamas operatives broke into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1200 people and abducting 250, Israel has taken a much more aggressive approach to its borders, stationing its troops inside Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, and relying less on opponents’ intent and focusing on their capabilities. 

Attacked on all sides as Iranian proxies Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen joined in, Israelis felt they were in a battle for their survival — even if from afar many saw a powerful, nuclear-armed nation against small militias that couldn’t challenge it. 

Since then, Israel has carried out a brutal war in Gaza, destroying vast areas and killing some 55,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. It has taken out the missile arsenals of Hamas and Hezbollah and helped trigger the collapse of the Syrian regime.