3 Levels of Response: How Israel May Strike Back at Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will make its own decision on how to respond to Iran’s missile and drone attack last weekend.

Leaders from the U.K., Germany, France, and America have urged Israel to practice “restraint” in considering a response to the 300 drones and missiles fired by Iran.

During a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, Netanyahu thanked “friends for their support in defense of Israel,” adding: “They also have all kinds of suggestions and advice, which I appreciate; however, I would also like to clarify, we will make our decisions ourselves. The state of Israel will do whatever is necessary to defend itself.”

Israel likely will try to thread a needle in response to Iran’s attack: A response that is too small could be perceived as weakness, but a larger attack could lead to unwanted, rapid escalation of conflict in the region.

Nicole Robinson, a senior research associate in The Heritage Foundation’s Allison Center for National Security, joins the “Problematic Women” podcast this week to explain Israel’s options in responding to Iran. (The Daily Signal is Heritage’s news and commentary outlet.)

Low-risk options could include striking officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of Iran’s armed forces, in Iraq and Syria, “or proxies themselves, or facilities or people themselves operating in these areas,” Robinson says.

Another low-risk target would be “a spy ship that’s stationed near the Red Sea,” she says. “It’s been supplying intelligence to the Houthis.”

Earlier this year, the State Department designated Yemen’s Houthi movement, an Islamist political and military organization that emerged in the 1990s, as a terrorist organization.

A “mid-risk” response from Israel would be “a combination of cyberattacks,” Robinson says, including on Iran’s nuclear facilities or electrical grid. Another would be “targeted assassinations on [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] commanders, maybe the people who conducted this recent attack,” she says.

The highest risk would be a “direct strike on Iranian soil” that targets the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Robinson adds, or “striking their nuclear facilities.”

Listen to this week’s podcast below to hear Robinson’s analysis of how tension between Israel and Iran reached this fever pitch, as well as what we know about current alliances in the region.