Israeli reporter Eddie Cohen said, in the wake of the attack on the Iranian Consulate: "We are very clear that we want to start a war with Iran and Hezbollah. Do you still not understand?"

"Israel wants to drag Iran into a full-scale war in order to be able to strike at Iran's nuclear facilities," though these facilities are beyond American and Israeli reach, buried beneath mountains.

Cohen, and of course, Israel's military leadership, will know that; but Israel nonetheless is locking itself into a logic that can only lead to defeat. Iran's nuclear facilities are safe from Israeli assault. The destruction of civilian Iranian infrastructure, which is out in the open, may kill many, but will not, per se, collapse the Iranian state.

Trita Parsi places Israel's objective in attacking the Iranian Consulate in Damascus in a different context:

An important aspect of Israel's conduct – and Biden's acquiescence to it – is that Israel is engaged in a deliberate and systematic effort to destroy existing laws and norms around warfare.

Even during wartime, embassies are off-limits [yet] Israel just bombed an Iranian diplomatic compound in Damascus.

Bombing hospitals is a war crime, [yet] Israel has bombed EVERY hospital in Gaza. It has even assassinated doctors and patients inside hospitals.

The ICJ obligated Israel to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Israel actively prevents aid from coming in.

Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is prohibited under international humanitarian law. Israel has deliberately created a famine in Gaza.