Iran has saved Netanyahu in Europe
EU prime ministers had started to hedge their support for the Israeli strongman, but they are likely to pull back from their criticism at a special summit on Wednesday in Brussels.
Prime ministers and presidents in the European Union will converge on Brussels on Wednesday to discuss the dramatic and alarming development in the Middle East this weekend, with Iran launching a barrage of missiles and drones against Israel on Saturday night. The attack, which came in response to Israel’s bombing of Iran’s consulate in Damascus, is the first time Iran has ever directly attacked Israel. A major line has been crossed, and now everyone in the region is holding their breath to see if the Gaza conflict is about to widen into a major regional war between state actors.
The structural impact of the five-hour attack was minimal. Israel’s iron dome, with the help of American warships that President Biden had moved to the area in preparation for such an Iranian attack, shot down 99% of the missiles and drones according to the IDF. The British and French militaries also assisted in the defence of Israel.
Iran likely knew its attack would fail, but in a sense that wasn’t the point. This was a show of force, a purposeful crossing of a major red line, perhaps designed to provoke a response from Israel and the United States. Italy convened an emergency teleconference of G7 leaders yesterday, and the UN Security Council also held an emergency session last night. European Council chair Charles Michel, who participated in the call, said he would add the topic to the agenda of Wednesday’s previously-scheduled special summit, which was meant to be devoted to industrial competitiveness. The weekend’s developments are likely to lead to a sharp change in tone compared to the last European Council summit on 22 March, where leaders had started to voice more full-throated criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza - even German chancellor Olaf Scholz. It was clear that leaders were feeling the pressure from their citizens to stop sending military aid to Israel with which the IDF is carrying out attacks on Gaza. But this week it will be difficult for these leaders to even entertain the notion of suspending aid - for now at least.