Israel struck Iran early on Friday. The attacks aimed at each other by Iran and Israel raise concerns about the outbreak of a major war in the Middle East.
16:57•Updated 17:56
We are now in uncharted territory in relations between Israel and Iran.
Today, Israel made a counterstrike against Iran, despite the explicit calls of the United States. Israel has not officially acknowledged the attack, but it has been confirmed by Israeli and US sources to the media.
This time, according to media reports, Israel warned the United States in advance. In early April, Israel angered the United States when it left its strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, a surprise to its ally.
Is Israel no longer listening to its biggest political and armed supporter?
The United States has so far not conditioned its support for Israel, Professor of World Politics at the University of Helsinki Teivo Teivainen to point out. In other words, the United States does have the ability to influence Israel, but the desire to do so is clearly less.
– If the United States really wanted to prevent Israel from striking Iran, for example, it would have a wide range of means to do so, from freezing aid to sanctions.
So far, the United States has not commented on Israel’s attack on Iran. Foreign minister Antony Blinken expressed US support for Israel as the G7 meeting begins on Friday.
– We are committed to helping Israel defend itself and, if necessary, participate in its defense, as you saw just a few days ago, says Blinken.
So far, the United States has also refrained from using hard measures regarding the war in Gaza, as have the EU and Finland, says Teivainen.
The United States increased its voice in early April, after foreign aid workers had been killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. It said it would reconsider its support for Israel’s military action if it did not finally begin to make more of an effort to improve conditions for the civilian population in Gaza.
Israel promised to open new aid routes to Gaza and allow more food shipments to the region. So far, the US has been content with these actions, and Israel continues to attack.
Israel’s revenge more moderate than expected
It has always been typical for Israel to respond quickly, forcefully and armed to the threats it experiences.
A notable exception was seen in 1991, when the United States persuaded Israel to abandon a retaliatory attack on Iraq. Iraq, which fought the Persian Gulf War against the United States, had hit Israel with missiles several times.
Even in destroying the Gaza Strip in response to the October attack by the extremist organization Hamas, Israel has been able to count on the support of the US President Joe Biden to quote the words “iron strong”.
– Although the United States has at times scolded Israel and appealed to avoid escalating the situation, at the same time the message has always been that the United States does support Israel, Teivainen says.
For example, the United States has publicly appealed to Israel to protect the civilians of Gaza from its attacks. At the same time, however, except for one time, the United States has exercised its right of veto, when the UN Security Council has voted on declarations demanding a ceasefire.
Israel’s retaliation against Iran was even more moderate than expected.
For example British broadcasting company BBC estimates that this was influenced by the fact that the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to avoid alienating Biden more than Israel has already done with its actions.
Media information by Biden also persuaded Netanyahu last weekend to abandon an immediate retaliatory strike on Iran after the damage from an Iranian airstrike proved minimal.
The big picture hasn’t changed
According to Teivainen, the relationship between Biden and Netanyahu has been tense in recent years due to issues related to human rights and democracy in Israel, among other things.
– In the big picture, the attitude of the United States towards Israel has not changed. US support for Israel has a long history, says Teivainen.
Next, the limits of US endurance were seen in the last area to escape the Israeli ground attack, Rafah in southern Gaza.
Israel is about to expand its operation to the last Gaza strip, but it has not yet implemented its plan. It has to come first to be insured The United States that the more than one million Palestinians packed into the area do not become cannon fodder.
In the video below, ‘s U.S. reporter Juri von Bondsdorff comments on the relationship between Israel and the United States in ‘s Aamu on April 19, 2024: