Israel, the last bastion of the West

(To Tiziano Ciocchetti)
08/10/21

From the meetings held in the United States last August, the new Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett returned to his homeland with many doubts and a single certainty: the State of Israel will have to face the Iranian nuclear threat alone!

The collapse of the Afghan government, "freely" elected and supported by the US and its allies, has dealt a very heavy blow to Washington's reputation, especially in the Middle East region. The success of the Islamic militias represents a model that can be exported to other geopolitical contexts, such as Lebanon for example. It is certainly no secret that the "Land of the Cedars" has an economy that is now in collapse and that its institutions (both civil and military) are absolutely unable to guarantee its security, especially internal.

On the other hand, Hezbollah is exponentially increasing the control of the territory, making more and more proselytes among the Lebanese population, as they have long since managed to occupy many spaces in the social life of citizens, spaces left guilty empty by the institutions of Beirut .

Obviously, the growth of Hezbollah has occurred above all thanks to the strong support of Tehran (even if in recent years the funding has been significantly reduced due to the international sanctions to which the Tehran regime is subjected), whose main objective is to have a direct outlet. to the Mediterranean Sea and to become the main exporter of natural gas in the region (the Iranians are digging an isthmus of about 750 km that will connect the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf). Also not to be underestimated is the support of Turkey and Qatar which, with Iran, are forming an axis in an anti-Jewish key.

Iran's position in Syria is more delicate, where it still has to deal with Russia. The presence of the Islamist militias of Tehran, in the south of the country, has allowed the launch of guided rockets against Israeli territory.

The Biden administration is less and less present in the Middle East, a crucial area for the West. In geopolitics there are no empty spaces, if a power withdraws, another is immediately ready to replace it.

This phase of tiredness of the Superpower is particularly felt by the Israelis, also from the point of view of military supplies. This is why the leaders of the IDF are pushing for an increase in the productive autonomy of the national military industry (autonomy that would entail large increases in costs). In 2009 the sale of the AH-64D attack helicopters to the IAF was blocked by the then Obama administration (Biden was the vice president) for fear that they could be used against the civilian population of Gaza (in a similar context we would like to understand how to distinguish a militiaman from a not fighter).

It is now undoubted that President Biden wants to impose two diktats on the State of Israel: an agreement with Iran, on a war footing with the rest of jihadist Islam against the West and an agreement with the Palestinians, who do not recognize the Jewish state while Hamas has declared that Afghanistan is tangible proof that Jews will be wiped out (in this regard, the meeting between Turkish president Erdoğan and Isma 'il Haniyeh, Hamas "prime minister" on 22 August is significant 2020 in Istanbul).

Tehran is pursuing two fundamental strategic objectives: to become the largest exporter of natural gas in the Middle East area (and therefore to Europe) and to possess the nuclear weapon.

Jerusalem (and the West) cannot afford such goals to come true.

Photo: IDF / US DoD