Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Yoav Limor is a veteran journalist and defense analyst specializing in Israeli advocacy, global Jewish affairs, and Middle Eastern politics. A passionate advocate for Israel, he frequently appears on radio, television, and in print to provide insightful analysis and counter media bias.

Israel’s efforts to counter the observation posts is just one small piece in a much more complex puzzle, aimed at making Hezbollah’s and Iran’s operations more difficult.
If Israel decides to launch an attack, it could sputter, be protracted, drag on into the winter, and, of course, result in considerable casualties on the front lines and on the home front, and draw criticism due to the public’s natural tendency to lose patience.
Hamas has nothing to lose, and Israel is sick of playing the fool.
In Gaza and Jerusalem, everyone understands that Hamas is playing with fire. While neither side is interested in armed conflict, things could easily get out of control and start snowballing rapidly.
Israel needs to take rapid action to minimize damage. It is in its strategic interest to keep up offensive actions to the north, mainly in Syria.
The reason attacks like the lethal stabbing outside the Gush Etzion shopping mall do not happen every day is because of prevention.
The Iranians are still far from reaching their goals, mostly in Syria, and despite their declared intent they have also failed to exact a price from Israel for its overt and covert countermeasures.
Israel is not the ‎only one threatened by entrenchment efforts. ‎Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are high on Iran’s ‎list of objectives, as are the moderates in Iraq.
Many in Israel believe that the United Nations Interim ‎Force in Lebanon is like the three wise monkeys at ‎the Tosho-gu shrine in Nikko, Japan; it sees no ‎evil, hears no evil and speaks no evil.
The Israeli public, media and government’s patience with Hamas is wearing ‎thinner with every border skirmish.
It may be that now, too, the formula to quickly calm things down will be found, but this time Israel must ensure the almost daily back-and-forth comes to an end, and that residents of the Gaza periphery region can have their sanity restored.
The manufacture of missiles in Lebanon, if it begins, would eliminate the need for weapons convoys and would allow Hezbollah to build its capabilities without concern.