The attack, which, according to all information, was carried out by Israel against the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus, in which three key generals of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are believed to have died, is a dangerous new step in an unstoppable escalation of tensions in the whole Middle East region, in the relations between Israel and the international community, and also between the Israeli government and its traditional ally, the United States. The UN Security Council's recent passing of a motion demanding that Israel declare an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, after five months of war, with the United States abstaining, is a clear sign of Washington's loss of patience with its strategic partner in the region, and its great annoyance with the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
All this, moreover, coincides with the second consecutive day of demonstrations against Netanyahu in Jerusalem, asking him to call elections in disapproval of his leadership. It is forecast that the rallies will continue for four days, in what has been labelled as the national week of protest. All this in the midst of an unrelenting fall in the popularity of the Israeli prime minister, who would suffer a serious electoral blow if he called an election now, since he has gambled everything on a level of public support that is not to be seen since his invasion of the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and more than 85% of the Palestinian population internally displaced.
But it is clear that the attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus is a raising of the stakes and also a provocation, and one which points to consequences, since there will be a reaction from the Tehran regime. The Iranian foreign minister has already affirmed this, letting it be known that the response will be similar to the Israeli attack. He has also indicated that it is a violation of all international conventions. Tel Aviv has put all its embassies on alert, raising the security level to the maximum for fear of reprisals.
The fact that the attack by Israel was aimed directly at the Iranian regime, a declared enemy of Washington, is something that obviously widens the perimeter of the conflict. At a time when pre-bellic statements are echoing across Europe due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, for which there is no diplomatic solution on the horizon either, Israel has moved a piece on the international chessboard as if wanting to remind Joe Biden that, beyond their differences, Iran is a declared and shared enemy. All this in the context of an electoral pre-campaign in the United States and with two clearly differentiated policies of Biden and Donald Trump, with the latter holding the advantage to return to the White House in the November elections.