New York Times quotes JINSA Distinguished Fellow Yaakov Amidror on Impact of Qassim Soleimani Strike

Israel Lauds Suleimani Assassination, Though With Caution
By Isabel Kershner

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General Suleimani’s net around Israel spread from the Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon to the Palestinian coastal territory of Gaza, where he provided support to Hamas and was the main patron of Islamic Jihad.

Hamas, the larger Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, offered its condolences to Iran, saying in a statement that General Suleimani had “played a major and critical role in supporting Palestinian resistance at all levels.” Hamas condemned what it called “U.S. bullying” that it said served the interests of Israel.

Basem Naim, a spokesman for Hamas, said on Twitter that the assassination “opens the doors of the region to all possibilities, except calm & stability.”

Israeli analysts, however, suggested that the prospect that Israel would be the immediate target of Iranian retaliation was slim.

“I don’t think the Iranians are now looking to bring more enemies into the battlefield,” said Yaakov Amidror, a former Israeli national security adviser. The removal of General Suleimani was important for Israel, he said, operationally and symbolically.

“It will take the Iranians some time at least to build a replacement for him,” said Mr. Amidror, who is a fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and the Washington-based Jewish Institute for National Security of America.

In addition, he said, the strike will have calmed fears in Israel about the United States’ willingness to act in the region.
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Read the full article in The New York Times