By Faramarz Kouhpayeh
Israeli PM tells Iranian people he doesn’t want war after ordering +1800 strikes on Syria, occupying new areas
TEHRAN – In his third and latest video message to the Iranian people in 15 months, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed a desire for “peace”, but said the Iranian government is obstructing it.
He alleged that Iran's leaders aim to “conquer other nations” while Israel is seeking only to “defend our state”.
Netanyahu's previous address to the Iranian people preceded the October 26th Israeli airstrikes on military installations inside Iran, which resulted in the martyrdom of four Iranian Army personnel and one civilian. Analysts believe the strikes fell short of their intended destructive capacity due to Iran's effective air defenses, preventing Israeli fighter jets from entering Iranian airspace and precluding the execution of subsequent planned phases of the attack.
The Israeli prime minister made no mention of the October assault in his Thursday address but said Israel has managed to crush Iran’s allied forces in Syria, Gaza, and Lebanon. “All this came as President Trump pointed out this week, because of Israel and its fighting success.”
It's hard to label Israel's deadly campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon as successful. The stated goal – the "eradication" of Hamas and Hezbollah – remains a distant dream. Hamas continues to inflict casualties on Israeli forces from the ruins of Gaza, and Hezbollah's attacks against Israeli positions in the occupied territories continued until moments before the November 27th ceasefire. Israel's only potential victory, the fall of Assad in Syria, is far from a guaranteed win, its contribution debatable and its long-term consequences potentially disastrous for both Israel and the U.S. and their partner in crime, Turkey.
"Netanyahu's latest pronouncements should be viewed within a broader context. These statements are a piece in a bigger puzzle," explains West Asia expert Abbas Aslani. "A recent Wall Street Journal report on alleged planned U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, and an orchestrated media frenzy about the European Troika's May threat of snapping back international sanctions against Iran, are other pieces of that puzzle.”
In his latest video message, Netanyahu claimed the Iranian government “has stolen billions of dollars” from the Iranian population to support its allies in the region. He then chanted an infamous slogan rioters used during the 2022 fall unrest inside Iran and said “one day Iran will be free”.
"Netanyahu's strategy is to reignite unrest within Iran. The Wall Street Journal article and the manufactured controversy over the potential ‘snapback’ of UN sanctions are designed to instill fear and weaken the morale of Iranians,” Aslani elaborated. “While Netanyahu likely hopes this will create an opening for Western military intervention, the West's ultimate aim is to pressure Iran into concessions on its regional influence and nuclear program during potential future negotiations."
Netanyahu also talked of his alleged willingness to pursue peace with regional countries in the video published right after the fall of Assad’s government last week: “We [are] reaching out a hand to whoever wants to live with us in peace, and we will cut off the hand or whoever tries to hurt us.”
Reports show that since Assad’s downfall, Israel has attacked over 1800 positions on Syrian soil, destroyed 80% of Syria’s military infrastructure, and occupied new regions in the country. Based on the Israeli prime minister’s proclamations of peace, none of that was supposed to happen as the regime’s enemy – Assad – was no longer in the picture.
Putting Israel’s latest move in Syria next to the regime’s killing of over 50,000 civilians in Gaza and Lebanon, it is unlikely that Netanyahu’s lame show would sway Iranians.
“I don’t believe attempts to instill fear in Iran would give the West what they want either,” Aslani said, citing Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei’s Wednesday statement that the Resistance's reach will expand throughout the region.
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