The Trump administration could deter Iran, inflict substantial damage on the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, and join forces with Israel to destroy the country’s nuclear program. The key question is how far the Trump administration is willing to go, according to Shiri Fein-Grossman, former head of the Foreign Policy Branch, Regional Affairs in the National Security Council.
If Trump achieves some or all of these goals, “that would signal to Saudi Arabia that America is willing to use force to stem Iran, to support its allies in the region, and it would create a new reality in the Middle East,” Fein-Grossman said. “Without that, it will be very hard to bring Saudi Arabia to the table without talking about the Palestinian issue, the two-state solution that Saudi Arabia is still hoping to achieve.”
EXPERT ANALYSIS
(קרדיט: ILTV)
Fein-Grossman spoke to ILTV News on Thursday. She told the station that Israel’s current objective in Lebanon is to eliminate as many Hezbollah operatives as possible and destroy as many of the group’s rockets as it can before the war is halted by a ceasefire. However, she added that the bigger question is what happens the day after: Will Israel have the freedom to act when it perceives a credible threat?
“What’s stalling getting to a ceasefire now is the Israeli freedom to act whenever it sees a threat,” she said. “The main thing is, what will happen the day after? Will Israel be able to maintain its own security for the first time?”