Although Israel has never formally acknowledged its possession of nuclear weapons, Prof. Norman Finkelstein, whose parents were survivors of the Holocaust, affirmed that it was France—not the United States—that helped Tel Aviv build up its nuclear weapons program in 1967.

On Sept. 30, when Iran launched some 180 missiles at Israel, mainly on their military assets, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had promised to retaliate against Iran directly.

Be that as it may, that did not come to pass on Oct. 1, nor the next day or the next. In all likelihood, Israel cannot and will not attack Iran directly since such a decision must be backed by the US and other European allies of Israel.

Israel functions on a strong special lobby in the US and all across the European countries that have grown to respect its military prowess in the Middle East since the Six-Day War in 1967. But as much as the American Israeli Public Affairs Commission (AIPAC) is a lobby that has its tentacles all over Washington, DC writ large, AIPAC cannot persuade the powers that be in the US, and by extension, Europe, that Iran's volley of missiles was deserving of a wave of counterattacks by Israel in return. Why?

Israel has literally dragged the reputation of the Group of Seven (G7) through the mud over the last year, if not longer. Israel's disproportionate response to the serious security breach on Oct. 7, 2023 by Hamas has placed the likes of Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on the list of those who have been involved in war crimes.

Unlike previous epochs, the left in the West has risen up to oppose the plausible genocide in Gaza, a label placed on it by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in March at a vote of 15 to 1. The single dissent was the judge from Israel. Even the judge from Uganda in the ICJ at The Hague has changed her view to agree with the majority.