Israeli headline: As Trump Hesitates, Israel Acts as if Return to War Inevitable

Journalist Alon Ben David, Ma'ariv, 16 May, translated from the Hebrew by Alastair Crooke.

'If US military action in Iran does not resume in the next five weeks, it will only take place at the end of the year, if at all. And in the absence of targets likely to shake the regime in Tehran, it is more likely that Trump will continue [with] the blockade. Five weeks after the [US-Iran] ceasefire was announced, it seems clear to everyone that no agreement can be reached between the parties unless Trump agrees to grovel and be humiliated ... For Israel – which views any agreement signed with the Iranian regime as a bad deal – this is not bad news. But [Trump’s] options are dwindling. [His] window of opportunity for military action begins now, following the summit in Beijing, and will remain open for five weeks, until the kick-off of the World Cup on 11 June ... the 250th anniversary celebrations of US independence, and then the mid-term elections …  

'The two main options Trump is considering are a short military strike, lasting two or three days, on national energy infrastructure, as a signal of his resolve, or the continuation of the naval blockade. None of his intelligence officials can point to an Iranian asset whose destruction would cause the regime to capitulate. It is therefore more likely that he will opt for a continuation of the blockade, which will be a contest of endurance between the two sides … The Iranian economy has begun to suffer … Inflation, which was already at 50%, is soaring to 80% …'

Israeli Channel 12 journalist Barak Sari.

'The situation of the northern border residents today is much worse than it was on the eve of the war with Iran. There was a celebration and talk that Hezbollah had received a strategic blow, but in the meantime, we are stuck in a quagmire, and our soldiers are being killed and wounded by booby-trapped drones. The northern arena has turned into an additional, burning, and open front.'