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Aluf Benn reflects on developments in Israel's policies toward Iran, claiming Netanyahu makes 'hollow threats'.

1. Barack Obama's achievement: From the day he assumed office, the president of the United States made preventing an Israeli military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities a high priority. To prevent a strike, America tightened its supervision of the Israel Defense Forces. The Obama administration expanded aid to Israel for missile defense, but new offensive weapons were provided to Israel only in the form of "forward deployment" in emergency storehouses whose opening requires American approval. Hezbollah has a similar arrangement with its Iranian patrons; only the latter are authorized to allow the use of long-range missiles deployed in Lebanon. This tight supervision has contained Israel, for the time being.

2. Iran's deterrent works: Iran learned the lessons of the bombed nuclear reactors in Iraq in 1981 and Syria in 2007: It dispersed its nuclear facilities to make an air strike more difficult. Even more importantly, it decided to take the war into enemy territory and build a strategic offensive arm against Israel.

The tens of thousands of missiles and rockets that Iran deployed in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, with the cooperation of Syria's missile corps, can sow destruction in the Dan region and paralyze the Israeli economy for a long time. The more Iran beefed up its missile threat, the louder the warnings grew inside Isr... >>>