American involvement is not guaranteed to secure Israel’s objectives – and may lead to unintended consequences
Israel’s assault on Iran, including its nuclear and ballistic weapons programme, is unlikely to secure its long-term strategic objectives, even if Benjamin Netanyahu manages to persuade the Trump administration into joining the conflict in the coming days and weeks, experts have said.
According to diplomats, military specialists and security analysts, Israel – and its prime minister – is likely to face mounting headwinds in the campaign, amid warnings that it risks dangerously destabilising the region.
There is mounting scepticism over whether even the US’s use of massive ground-penetrating bombs would be able to knock out Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility, which is buried deep beneath a mountain, and questions have emerged about Israel’s ability to sustain a long-range offensive that has exposed its cities to counterattack by ballistic missiles.
Experts make the distinction between Israel’s operational success in targeting key Iranian sites and individuals, and its strategic objectives which appear to have expanded to regime change in Tehran, on top of destroying its nuclear programme.
