Thus, Israeli journalist Ben Caspit tells former British diplomat Alastair Cooke that Israeli ministers "clearly state that a widespread war is likely to erupt in the next six months between Iran and its adversaries in the region, including Israel." As Magnier specifies: "Considering the date in the next six months, this means the end of the spring and the beginning of the summer." They don't want to wait until the second Tuesday in November, let alone January 20, 2021. Everybody's got a timetable.
Let's try to remember: It was in September, Bodansky notes, that Netanyahu, speaking to the IDF General Staff, warned that Israel had "hitherto" avoided "a comprehensive confrontation," but "This might change soon... raising the specter of an all-out war as a distinct possibility." It was in September, he also notes, that IRGC commanders concluded: "all chances for a diplomatic breakthrough collapsed." It was in September, three months after Trump called off a strike against Iran at the last minute, that those extremely accurate Houthi drones and/or missiles struck key Saudi oil facilities. And it was ten days later in September that five "badass" freshman congresswomen--plus two men, all CIA or military officers--"changed the course of history" and "the dynamic for House Democrats" with an op-ed in the Washington Post that called for impeaching Trump, instantly converting a previously recalcitrant Nancy Pelosi to the cause.
There followed Trump's decision to withdraw from Syria-modified under pressure, but still "leaving the Kurds high and dry" and serving as another "warning sign to Israel." And there came considerable teeth-gnashing about how Netanyahu's "signature Iran policy... was rocked by the president's reluctance to flex US military muscle", and left Israel "facing the reality of an unpredictable and transactional president who has deep reservations about using US military might, is afraid of getting involved in another Middle East conflict."
Now all of this--the coincidences of the September turning points and the Spring 2020 timetables for both "Netanyahu's signature war" and Pelosi's "constitutional duty" of impeachment--may be, most probably are, just that: coincidences. All the signs and proclamations about an impending war with Iran in the next six months may be, as they have been before, bluster and bluff. They probably are. There's probably no connection whatsoever between what's going on in the Israeli Defense Ministry and what's going on in the hallowed Halls of Congress.
But the strategic military balance in the Middle East is changing rapidly, the US is a less reliable partner, and Iran and Israel have reached the zugzwang point where some big move is necessary and every possible one is dangerous. Everyone understands that any war with Iran will be widespread and immensely destructive.
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