Allies press Israel to avoid escalation

The Israeli war cabinet met on Monday for the second day in a row to discuss the response, and according to the Israeli press, “several options” were on the table, with attacks on Iran-allied militias in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen seen as the safest option: carrying out covert actions on Iranian territory or a crushing attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, the riskiest option, which is sure to provoke a direct confrontation between the two countries.

However, there are “divisions” among ministers, with a more extreme faction advocating destructive retaliation and another, more moderate, advocating a more restrained response to avoid provoking open war. On Sunday, two Israeli ministers guaranteed a response would come “at the right time” and expressed a desire to create an anti-Iran coalition, but the US immediately made it clear it would not participate in a possible Israeli counterattack.

EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell summed up the international community’s concerns on Monday, saying the entire region was “on the brink of an abyss.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said that “everything must be done to avoid escalation,” and British MNE head David Cameron called on Israel to “think with its head, not just with its heart.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was also concerned about the possibility of escalation, calling on Israel to “help reduce tensions.”