Iran: Israel's 'Baptism of Fire'

Many pundits often said that it was either an Iran Nuclear Deal or an Iran War. They may be right - but if so, it is unlikely to be US troops on the ground fighting it.

The American public are exhausted of war. President Donald Trump won his historic presidential campaign on an anti-war platform, including lambasting the "big fat mistake" of the Iraq War. If the Iraq War was a big fat mistake for the US, an Iran war would be one of the biggest, "fattest" US conflicts since the Second World War.

In 2013, when President Barrack Obama pushed for a vote in Congress over whether or not to strike the Syrian government, the American public were overwhelmingly against it. Since then, the anti-war sentiment in the United States has not grown weaker, but stronger.

So with a war-weary America, why has President Trump pulled out of the Iran Deal and made war with Iran a possibility in the short-term? Because though he cannot fight this war with current public support, he also knows he is not expected to by his closest ally, Israel - except as a last resort.

Israel, on the other hand, is ready for war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has just been granted overwhelming war powers, granting him the ability to wage war without a cabinet vote. Israel is also being welcomed into the Arab fold by countries Saudi Arabia, Egypt and UAE in particular, with an Israeli-Palestinian deal pending before full relations are initiated.

Prime Minister Netanyahu's rhetoric against Iran and its nuclear deal has culminated into Israel and Iran engaging in a series of military strikes in Syria. Yet with the risk of nuclear proliferation from Iran looming, Prime Minister Netanyahu is unlikely to focus Israel's efforts on merely striking Iran's proxies. The Israeli Prime Minister has often been known for having a "go at it alone" approach to Middle-East affairs, such as when he flew to Washington to condemn the Iran nuclear deal in 2015 at Congress, against President Barrack Obama's wishes.

In an Israeli-Iranian conflict, Israel would not only have the political support of the United States (which Israel did not have under President Obama), but Israel would also be supported by many of its Arab neighbours. In fact, an Israeli war with Iran may just be the 'baptism of fire' required by the Arab states to prove that Israel can vouch for their security. With the rise of Turkey as an adversary to Arab determinism in the Middle-East and beyond, Israel is more likely to garner Arab support should it prove itself in militarily intervening against the enemies of the Arabs, such as Iran.

In such a case, perhaps it is understood by both President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu that, in the advent of an Iran War, an Iran-Israeli conflict is the best case scenario for the US, Israel and the wider Middle-East: President Trump would not have to embroil the US in another costly Middle-East conflict, Israel would prove itself capable to protect its Arab partners, and Israeli-Arab relations would soar.

Since its initial fight for survival, the nation of Israel has come a long way with its Arab neighbours. Because of this, the fury of the Israeli military may soon, with Arab support, be directed against Iran, a stark and historic contrast to previous Israeli conflicts.