Israel is “bracing” for “possible entry” into the US-Iran war. “Israeli officials increasingly believe U.S. President Donald Trump could escalate military action against Iran, citing his threat to strike the secretive Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site, the expanding U.S. military deployment in the region and the arrival of additional aerial refueling aircraft,” Ynet News reported on July 22.
Ynet cites Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich having said earlier in the week that Israel had no interest in joining what he described as the limited conflict between Iran and the United States, arguing that “the current situation is the best one for us.” Trump’s Tuesday remarks on bombing Pickaxe Mountain, however, “could alter that assessment.”
“Israeli officials say that if Trump is prepared to widen the conflict by striking the site, the confrontation would no longer remain a limited U.S.-Iran exchange,” Ynet reports further. “Such a move could carry broader regional consequences, including the possibility of Israeli participation.” The decision, they say, is Trump’s.