The United States believes Israel’s response to the weekend Iranian attack could be limited and focus on striking key targets outside Iran, four US officials told NBC.
This assessment is based on discussions with Israeli officials before Saturday night’s attack, and notes that Israel’s approach itself may have changed since then. Rather, the lack of serious damage could lead Israel to seek a less aggressive response.
Instead of attacking Iran, which Israel’s allies have warned could send the region into all-out war, officials say Israel could attack Iranians, such as militias in Syria or the Hezbollah group in Lebanon.
The reports state that the US expects Israel to be informed about the decisions it makes, but does not intend to be part of the retaliation.
The Channel 12 report claims that Israel’s War Cabinet has decided to hit back “strongly and clearly” with the message that it “will not allow an attack of this scale to go unanswered”. It is also stated that Israel plans to coordinate its activities with America.
