It began on Monday evening, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a warning in response to Iranian threats about new ballistic that could reach Tel Aviv. “I do not ignore the threats of the Iranian regime but neither am I intimidated by them,” Netanyahu stated. “If this regime makes the awful mistake of trying to destroy Tel Aviv and Haifa, it will not succeed. However, this would be the last anniversary of the revolution that they celebrate. They should take this into account.”
The revolution was a reference to the 40th anniversary of the Islamic takeover of Iran, under the leadership of the Ayatollah Sayyid Ruhollah Mūsavi Khomeini.
On Monday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif met with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in his Beirut bunker, and, according to Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV, Nasrallah thanked Iran “for what it has offered to Lebanon, Palestine and the region’s resistance movements and peoples in the confrontation against Zionist aggression and [infidel] terrorism.” Hizbullah’s al-Manar TV said.
Nasrallah stressed that he hoped Iran would keep up its support “despite all the conspiracies and pressures it is facing as a result.”
Zarif underlined “the Islamic republic’s firm stance that supports Lebanon and its state, people and resistance,” promising Tehran’s commitment to “offer all forms of help and cooperation in the various files that are on the table.”
On Tuesday night, Prime Minister Netanyahu confirmed that Israel had attacked the Syrian Golan Heights the night before. Apparently this attack targeted Hezbollah elements that are back in the area, having been integrated in the Assad army. It was a signal to Hezbollah and Iran that they would not be permitted to establish an active front against Israel on the Golan Heights.
During a visit of an IDF naval base in Haifa where he inspected the Iron Dome aerial defense system, Netanyahu said: “We are constantly working according to our understanding and the need to prevent Iran and its proxies from entrenching on our northern border and in our region in general. We are doing everything necessary.”
Syrian media reported on Tuesday that two members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were killed and several others injured in Monday night’s attack in Quneitra. The Syrian opposition said the Israeli strike was aimed at Hezbollah positions in Quneitra. Syrian media reported the attack constituted eight tank shells.
Opening a second front against Israel is an old Hezbollah dream, and now that the terror group’s fighters are back from the Syrian front, having lost several thousand fighters defending President Assad’s rule, Nasrallah et al are trying to revive the fantasy.
Back to the messages: Hezbollah this week announced through the Beirut-based Al Mayadeen satellite television channel that they would soon broadcast a documentary about of the preparations and execution of the anti-tank missile attack on IDF vehicles in the Har Dov region near the Lebanese border in January 2015. The attack avenged the elimination of a Hezbollah cell and an Iranian military leader in Quneitra. Two IDF soldiers were killed.
The terrorist organization apparently waited four years before deciding to publish this documentation, and the timing is the message. Nasrallah is counter-warning Netanyahu.