Israel ‘not interested’ in wider regional war says former Israeli National Security advisor

Earlier we spoke to Eyal Hulata who served as Israel’s National Security advisor – and co-ordinated Israel’s effort on Iran.

He’s now a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defence of Democracies. We began by asking him what he thought the purpose of Israel’s response to Iran should be.

Eyal Hulata: The Israeli response, first and foremost, is important to deliver a message to Iran that they can’t go about doing this. There must be a response coming from Israel to put Iran at bay and to make sure they do understand they can’t do this every time they want to.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: Right. But the question is, should that response be a message? Should it be overwhelming? Should it be targeting key installations, nuclear power? That kind of infrastructure. What sort of scale should it be on?

Eyal Hulata: Just messaging and signalling, I think, will not be a proper response at this point. The fact that the Americans, and in fact also the UK and all of the major European countries, have been telling Iran for weeks now: ‘Don’t do this, this is inappropriate, do not escalate the region into war, do not fire ballistic missiles in Israel.’ And yet they did do it. I can tell you that is very clear from Israel’s perspective. This will not be an act to open a regional war. Israel is not interested in a regional war.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: The question is, what do you think is achievable? You know, is this a question of putting Iran back by ten years or 20 years in terms of its ability to attack in the future? Is it this rather horrible phrase ‘mowing the lawn’ in Iran, the same way as Israel is perceived to be doing with Hamas and with Hezbollah? Is it essentially the same purpose?

Eyal Hulata: This cannot be the same purpose. Iran is 2,000 km away. Israel is in fact fighting for our lives after being attacked so brutally over and over again. This doesn’t mean that Israel needs to – today – start an open regional war. I don’t think this is what we should expect, but we should expect – what Israel should expect – from the international community, to understand this. And also to join this effort, because Iran is not just Israel’s problem.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: Right. But in that case, what you seem to be talking about is fundamentally changing the dynamics of the Middle East. Is it the fact that every time Israel has tried to do that, it has failed?

Eyal Hulata: I wouldn’t say that Israel has tried over and over again to do this and has failed. In fact, I think that Israel has tried other means of reaching agreements and diplomatic resolutions to our conflicts, and these actually have failed.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: Can we talk about Gaza then for a moment? Because almost a year on, after October 7th, more than 40,000 people killed in Gaza. Today, there are another 60 people dead and Israel has still not defeated Hamas. I mean, where is the strategy there and why is it going wrong?

Eyal Hulata: Hamas capabilities have been eroded. Many of the casualties in Gaza are, in fact, Hamas operatives bearing arms, targeted. And the fact that they are hiding underneath and among civilians…

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: But thousands of children…

Eyal Hulata: And I’m not objecting to that. What I’m saying is the fact that Hamas is fighting Israel from within those civilian communities and not putting them in shelters. Hamas won’t allow their civilians to go underground or to take shelter. They would rather fire rockets at the Israeli communities from within those civilian populations.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: A year into Gaza, where there are fewer forces, there are fewer Hamas fighters than there are Hezbollah fighters. And you are still fighting them. How soon do you think this war in Lebanon could be over?

Eyal Hulata: Israel has no intention to get into the entire Lebanon or even the entire south of Lebanon the way that we did in Gaza.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: I mean, do you accept that, ultimately, resolution in Gaza is the only thing that can lead to a political settlement – and that while you can fight, ultimately the only thing that brings peace is politics and talks. And so you are going to have to ultimately do a deal over the future of the Palestinians?

Eyal Hulata: Israel did not open this war with Gaza. I truly believe that we need a resolution in Gaza. There are 101 hostages held by Hamas that I want released.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: But a deal means a state.

Eyal Hulata: The others must know that Israel has withdrawn completely from Gaza back in 2005, when the disengagement, and gave birth to the Palestinian Authority to rule. You know the concept that we give them land and then they turn it into bases to attack Israel. This cannot be acceptable by the Israeli public or by the Israeli governors.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: Just finally, do you understand why people might be confused by the messaging coming out of Israel that says you do not want a regional war, when you are currently fighting in Lebanon and Gaza – and possibly Yemen and Syria – and now Iran is what is next promised? I mean, the fact is you are in a regional war.

Eyal Hulata: Israel did not start any of those conflicts. Yes, indeed. We are fighting seven fronts that were all imposed on us. And my hope is – and I think that all of the Israelis hope – for the new year that starts today in Israel, the Jewish New year that starts today, that the next year will not be a year of war. It will not be a year of fighting. They need to put their weapons down.