(CNN) — With its forces on high alert, Israel is drawing up operational plans for a further escalation in the US-Iran conflict, three Israeli sources said, but for now remains on the sidelines and has no imminent plans to join.
Israel has not been a direct participant in the renewed round of fighting, which erupted in early–July after Iranian attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, and Washington has not yet asked Israel to enter the campaign, the sources said. If US President Donald Trump were to decide to significantly expand the strikes and call on Israel to join, one of the sources said, “We will be ready.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a limited security meeting on Monday night to review the latest developments with Iran, according to another of the sources. The meeting discussed possible scenarios in which Israel could be drawn into the fighting: joining at Washington’s request; an Iranian move that triggers Israeli retaliation; or a preemptive Israeli strike to thwart what it perceives as an imminent threat.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir underscored the military’s readiness Sunday. “We are prepared for an immediate return to fighting and will act with great force against anyone who harms us,” he said.
Despite the heightened alert, one source said, Israel is content with a continuation of the status quo: staying on the sidelines while the US and Iran continue to exchange blows and remain far from a nuclear deal, as economic pressure on Tehran continues building.
“At the moment, Israel has no interest in joining the campaign,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who participated in the security consultation, said Tuesday. Speaking at a conference, Smotrich said the limited confrontation between Iran and the US serves Israeli interests as it increases pressure on the Iranian regime. “The best way to bring about the regime’s downfall is to crush it economically,” Smotrich said, pointing to Iran’s surging inflation. “Therefore, the current situation works in our favor, and we have no interest in pushing ourselves into it.”
Israel’s assessment is that recent US strikes on bridges inside Iran dealt a significant blow to the country’s transportation and commerce networks, one of the sources said. “The Iranian economy is collapsing, and eventually this will weaken the regime further,” the source said. Rampant inflation and poverty fueled a wave of mass protests against the regime in January, and Israel sees the Iranian economy as one of the regime’s biggest vulnerabilities.
A senior Israeli official told CNN the likelihood of attacks in Hormuz escalating, and pulling Israel into the renewed fighting, has risen in recent days, though the picture remains fluid, as Israel closely tracks regional mediation efforts to defuse the crisis. “It’s dynamic,” the official said, noting that some figures in Trump’s circle are pushing for diplomacy to avoid a wider escalation.
Should Israel ultimately join the fighting, a second Israeli official said, it would seek to strike high-value targets – especially energy infrastructure and nuclear sites – targets Israel has wanted to hit since the March campaign but was held back by Trump.
“These are targets that could determine a decisive outcome for the war, but they also carry a major risk for the Gulf states and for oil prices, and up until now, the Americans have not wanted to take that risk,” he said.
Against this backdrop, Netanyahu has been trying to arrange a face-to-face meeting with Trump for weeks, sources say, though no date has been set. The two leaders have not met in person since February, before the Iran campaign, though they have spoken regularly. One source said Netanyahu is considering traveling to the US next week for the funeral of Sen. Lindsey Graham, and is exploring the possibility of arranging a meeting with Trump around that visit.
The-CNN-Wire
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