'When it comes to the escalation curve, the Palestinian front is ultimately of peripheral concern to Israel. Iran's nuclear program looms largest.' -TomRtweets
Violence between Israel and the PIJ has been escalating in recent months in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Directed by Iran and fueled by Iranian funds, arms, and antipathy for the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, the PIJ has conducted numerous attacks on Israeli interests. Other attacks have been prevented only by the diligence of the Israeli security services. Iran is using the PIJ as its key proxy against the Israeli government.
For Israel, however, the interest in avoiding a larger conflict must be balanced against the need to deter Iran from seizing the escalation curve. Hard-liners in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government are also demanding that he take a tougher stance against Iran and its Palestinian proxies.
When it comes to the escalation curve, the Palestinian front is ultimately of peripheral concern to Israel. Iran's nuclear program looms largest. Israel is deeply concerned over Iran's enrichment of uranium to near weapons-grade purity levels and its continuing refusal to come clean with the International Atomic Energy Agency over its past and present nuclear activities. For Israel, which has a population of just 10 million people, the advent of an Iranian nuclear weapon would be seen as the precursor to a second Holocaust.
In turn, whatever happens with this current conflagration, it is likely that Israel will continue to maintain heightened military pressure on the PIJ for the foreseeable future.
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