Israelis Want to Strike Back if Iraq Attacks

As the United States lays the diplomatic and military groundwork for a potential military strike against Iraq, Israelis are becoming both increasingly anxious about possible repercussions here and united in the belief that Israel should hit back if attacked.

With tensions rising in the Persian Gulf, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has issued both soothing and tough messages to the public, repeating that the chances are slim that Iraq will again launch Scud missiles at Israel--as it did during the 1991 Persian Gulf War--but declaring that the Jewish state has the means to respond if it does.

“These are difficult days,” he said Monday in a speech to high school students. “What’s happening today in the Persian Gulf reminds us of the kind of neighborhood we live in. . . . [But] we have the ability to respond and to deter attacks, and everyone should take this into account.”

In the Gulf War, Israel bowed to U.S. pressure and did not retaliate when Iraqi President Saddam Hussein tried to break up the U.S.-led coalition arrayed against him and ordered his forces to fire at Israel. Thirty-nine Scuds landed inside Israel, causing widespread damage but relatively few casualties.

But the situation would probably be different this time, with polls and radio talk shows indicating widespread support for Israel’s striking back if it becomes a target once more. Among those publicly urging a military response to any Iraqi attack is former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, who made the decision in 1991 to hold back.

“There’s an overwhelming sense that if Saddam Hussein hits Israel again, we shouldn’t just sit idly by,” said Gerald Steinberg, a political science professor at Tel Aviv’s Bar Ilan University.

The reasons, he and others said, include a growing sense that failing to respond now to Iraqi missile attacks could undermine Israel’s ability to deter future assaults; the damage that not firing back might cause to public morale; and the fact that this time, with the U.S. suggesting it may strike at Iraq even without support from its major allies, there is no fragile coalition to worry about.

In a poll published Monday by the Yediot Aharonot daily, 63% of those surveyed said that if attacked, Israel should strike at Iraq even if the United States asks the government not to retaliate; 51% said they believed the government in Baghdad will target Israel if the United States hits Iraq.

Israeli and U.S. officials have said the United States has suggested that the Netanyahu government “keep a low profile” in the crisis, but they have declined to comment on whether Israel has been asked to refrain from retaliating. Washington reportedly has agreed to provide Israel with notice in the event of a U.S. strike.

On Monday, Israel deployed four batteries of U.S.-made Patriot missiles--which could knock down incoming Scuds--on a remote hilltop in the southern Negev Desert. The army called the deployment part of a routine training exercise.