A poll conducted by the Hebrew-language newspaper Maariv has found that 55 per cent of Israelis fear a new war between Israel and Iran could break out in the near future.
According to the newspaper, Israel assesses that Iran may be preparing for a large-scale, coordinated attack across several fronts simultaneously, in a scenario Israeli estimates say could resemble the events of 7 October in terms of surprise and coordination.
Israeli assessments cited by Maariv suggest that Iran could seek to bring Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas, the Houthis in Yemen and Iran-aligned militias in Iraq into a single campaign against Israel.
The newspaper quoted an Israeli military source as saying that Israel must remember that the Soviet Union did not collapse because of war, but because of economic collapse. The source argued that what he described as Iran’s economic deterioration is a factor that should be taken into account.
The military source added that if a genuine existential threat to Israel emerges, the Israeli army should act against Iran to eliminate that threat even in the absence of international legitimacy.
