Iran is intimidated by the Israel government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, and worried about the consequences if it engages in retribution against Israel for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, said former U.S. ambassador John Bolton.
"Netanyahu will not be punished by the Biden administration," Bolton said Wednesday on Newsmax's "Newsline."
Netanyahu "won't be afraid of what they're going to do. And he may really hit Iran very hard, including their nuclear weapons program," Bolton said. "I think what we're seeing on the West Bank now is evidence that Israeli authorities are quite worried that Iran's sponsorship of terrorism extends not just to Hamas and Hezbollah and the Houthis and Shia militia in Iraq, but on the West Bank that they've set up terror networks there, maybe waiting until the appropriate moment and Israel doesn't wait for them to be hit first.
"They preempted against Hezbollah on Sunday, and I think this is a preemptive strike on the West Bank. And there could well be more."
The Iranian regime, Bolton said, "is putting its smiley face on now. I think they don't want to see anything that could cause the Biden administration to take strong action against them before the election," he said.
"So instead of showing what they really believe, they're just engaged in propaganda."
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Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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