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Tit-for-tat attacks between Iran and the U.S. over the weekend highlighted the fragile nature of the current ceasefire underpinning ongoing negotiations between the two countries.
But perhaps more of a worry was what was going on in Lebanon. Just a day after the signing of a framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon, Israeli airstrikes continued in the southern part of the war-torn country. And in any event, Hezbollah – the Iran-sponsored Shiite group fighting Israel – has rejected that deal and accused the government in Beirut of selling out Lebanon’s sovereignty.
All of which underscores the points being made by Amy McAuliffe in today’s lead story. A former assistant director of CIA for Weapons and Counterproliferation who now teaches at the University of Notre Dame, McAuliffe outlines Israel’s “campaign between the wars” – which has been central to the country’s Iran containment strategy for at least the past decade.
The logic behind these ongoing limited military strikes, covert action and cyberattacks across the Middle East is to “downgrade the capabilities of Iran and its allies” and ensure “Israel will be better prepared for future wars by maintaining a qualitative military advantage,” writes McAuliffe.
But the policy poses a challenge for the United States as it seeks to move beyond the Iran war. “In fact, Israel’s ‘campaign between the wars’ risks widening the split with Washington and restarting war with Iran and its allies over the long term,” McAuliffe argues.
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