Middle East | Israel-Iran War: The first step towards the end

It doesn't look like the hostilities between Israel and Iran will stop anytime soon. Armed force develops a momentum of its own that is difficult to stop. The Israeli government sees itself as having a military advantage: Iran has little to counter Israeli attacks with fighter jets and drones, except for retaliatory rocket strikes, which cause significant damage and hit many civilians, whether targeted or due to inaccurate fire.

The Iranian government would do well to take the first step and stop shelling Israeli territory to avoid further destruction and save human lives – in return for a guarantee that the Israeli side will also stop the attacks. This requires mediation and pressure from the USA. Israel seems willing to expand its war aims with each passing day : first the aim was only to prevent the nuclear bomb, then it also targeted the missile program and oil and gas infrastructure. Suddenly the bombings are supposed to help the Iranians get rid of the Islamic regime . That sounds as hypocritical and cynical as the justification given after the attack on Afghanistan that the aim was not only to capture Osama Bin Laden and overthrow the Taliban, but also to fight for Afghan women.

The sheer ingenuity of the argument used to justify the war of aggression against Iran was made clear in a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Donald Trump's birthday: Israel had intelligence that Iran "planned to transfer the nuclear weapons it had developed to its terrorist proxies." A threat to the entire world, according to Netanyahu, to whom we should now be grateful for having saved us from worse.