Centrists say Israel must preserve its alliance with the U.S. while hardliners are demanding massive retaliation.
War Cabinet met on Monday for the second time since the Iranian missile and drone attack. Some ministers advocate massive reprisals in response to outright aggression, if only to restore the Jewish state's power of deterrence. Other members of the government believe that it is better to wait so as not to lose the very broad international support which contrasts sharply with the almost total diplomatic isolation in which Benyamin Netanyahu's government found itself before the Iranian attack. The Israeli government has been criticized for its handling of the Gaza Strip and the humanitarian crisis plaguing the Palestinian enclave in recent months. It has been accused of failing to do enough to stop the flow of weapons into the Gaza strip from the West Bank and into Israel. The U.N. Security Council has called on Israel to impose sanctions on Iran over the missile attack, but Israel has so far refused to do so, citing a lack of evidence that Iran launched the attack.