Israel has threatened to destroy Tehran’s nuclear programme before, ultimately holding back in absence of Washington’s support
The withdrawal of non-essential US personnel from parts of the Middle East and the anonymously sourced US reports in the past 24 hours that Israel is on the brink of an all-out attack on Iran are all deeply alarming, but they are also familiar.
The Israeli government has approached the same precipice, of a war to destroy Tehran’s nuclear programme, several times in the past two decades, going as far as honing detailed plans and conducting practice air sorties.
On each occasion, there have been briefings in Washington that Israel means business and could act on its own. Each time, however, Israel has held back in the absence of US support.
“This pattern of behavior repeats like a script kept in a drawer, dusted off and updated,” Yossi Melman, a veteran Israeli military and intelligence analyst, wrote in Haaretz newspaper this month.
