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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has remained vague about how Israel should respond to Iran’s latest missile barrage, a decision that US officials worry could ignite the broader regional war they’ve spent the past year trying to stave off.
Israel’s counterattack is expected to be more forceful than in April when its military responded to the first-ever attack on Israel from Iranian soil with a largely symbolic strike on an air defense installation in the central city of Isfahan.
This time around, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to make Tehran “pay the price” for its “big mistake.” Israel’s security cabinet met for several hours Tuesday night to discuss a "significant response." The options on the table reportedly range from strikes on Iranian oil sites, energy infrastructure or nuclear facilities, any of which would be viewed in Tehran as a major escalation in the decadeslong shadow war that burst into the open this year.
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