Former national security adviser John Bolton chastised President Biden for placing “enormous pressure” on Israel not to “do more” to Iran on Friday, after the latter launched retaliatory strikes on Israel in response to an attack in Syria earlier in the month.
Early Friday, the Israeli military hit Iran’s largest air base and nuclear complex. The strike appeared to be a reaction to the drone and missile strikes that occurred last weekend.
“I think what Israel did, as far as it went, was fine,” Bolton stated on the “Cats & Cosby” radio show, which is hosted by John Catsimatidis and Rita Cosby. “I think they were under enormous pressure—I mean, enormous pressure—from the Biden administration not to do more, and I can appreciate that; it’s a difficult position to be in.”
“But even within the war cabinet in Israel, people believe that opposition leader Benny Gantz wanted to go further,” he went on to say. “I believe they should have. “I think Iran was extremely fortunate here.”
Despite Israeli leaders’ past threats, the response to Iran’s current attack was limited. In a Cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even warned that “the state of Israel will do whatever is necessary to defend itself.”.
Analysts claim that Israel’s relatively modest response stemmed from a desire to stop the current Middle Eastern war from escalating.
“The goal was to restore deterrence and discourage any further Iranian attack on the Israeli homeland,” Richard Haass, emeritus president of the Council on Foreign Relations, stated. However, Israel’s actions also aimed to simplify Iran’s response. The Israeli government isn’t making a big deal about what happened.
In an interview with NBC News Friday evening, Iran’s Foreign Affairs Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian questioned Israel’s involvement in the incident, claiming that the military lacks evidence that they were behind the attack. He also stated that while Iran would not react to Friday’s hit, they would take action if it occurred again.
