Israel should not rush to strike back at Iran
Instead it should try a novel response to Iran’s missile attack: restraint
The war cabinet in Israel is grappling with a perilous decision: how to respond to Iran’s unprecedented drone and missile attack on April 13th. The barrage was, fortunately, blocked with help from friends and neighbours. Should Israel “take the win”, as President Joe Biden is urging, letting a blatant act of war go unanswered? Or should it retaliate and risk sparking a regional conflagration?
A small country with many enemies, Israel has long prized massive—some would say disproportionate—deterrence. It has wrecked Gaza in the attempt to crush Hamas, which massacred Israeli civilians on October 7th. Israeli retribution against Iran now seems inevitable. But Israel’s government should stay its hand.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline "Don’t rush to retaliate"
Leaders April 20th 2024
From the April 20th 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Leaders
The liberal international order is slowly coming apart
Its collapse could be sudden and irreversible
How to pacify the world’s most violent region
The iron-fist approach will not solve Latin America’s gang-violence problem
Why South Africans are fed up after 30 years of democracy
After a bright start the ANC has proved incapable of governing for the whole country