Israel calculates how to respond to Iranian missile attack

Despite promises of a swift response to an Iranian missile strike, Israel had not acted decisively by the morning of 2 October. Throughout the night, the political-military cabinet met for the first time in a bunker named the crisis management centre.

The cabinet meeting lasted about three hours. Participants were briefed in detail on the Iranian attack, which was larger in scale than the April strike.

Those present agreed that the response should be ‘significant,’ but no specific options for a retaliatory strike were worked out, according to Israeli media. That will be handled by a narrow forum chaired by the Prime Minister.

According to the same sources, Israel understands that the retaliatory strike must be of such force as to deter Iran from following through. However, this requires maximum coordination with the Americans, and the White House has expressed no interest in further escalation, although it has emphasized Israel's right to defend itself.

According to 'The Wall Street Journal', Tehran has already been put on notice that Israel intends to respond with a ‘direct strike on nuclear or oil facilities.’ Iran, in response, said it would retaliate with even greater force.

'Ynet' political columnist Nadav Eyal writes that Israel has not ruled out strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.That said, it would be difficult for the White House to veto such plans.

The IDF provided that it is ready to retaliate against targets in the Middle East, without specifying whether the attack would affect Iran itself. Overnight, the Israeli Air Force carried out strikes on Beirut.

In a special statement on the night of 2 October, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also vowed a strong response to Iran, which he said had ‘made a fatal mistake’.

‘The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to strike back at our enemies,’ the Prime Minister said. - Sinwar and Def did not understand it, Nasrallah did not understand it, and there are probably those in Tehran who do not understand it, but they will understand it too.’

'Ynet' military columnist Ron Ben-Yishai believes that the main opponent of escalation is the White House, which is firmly opposed to a regional war. If Israel strikes, it will be against American interests. So Jerusalem is thoughtfully calculating targets for a retaliatory strike. What will those targets be? This is the most important question on which the future of the entire region may depend.