Expert: Israel's counterattack was restrained

While Israel had not confirmed a strike on Iran Friday morning, available information suggests its counterattack was quite restrained, security expert Rainer Saks told the "Terevisioon" morning show.
Saks said that the picture painted by the media was somewhat peculiar early on Friday.
"There were reports of explosions near Isfahan, while there have been no strikes on nuclear facilities. It seems the strike was aimed at an Iranian air base. But now the official media in Iran are denying even that, and Israel has not confirmed the attack. We are still in an unclear phase in terms of what happened," Saks told "Terevisioon" around 7:40 a.m.
But he added that an attack was attempted regarding which there are two important aspects.
"It was a truly limited strike by Israel against Iran. And if that is all there will be to it, there will likely be no more fire exchanged. But if this was merely a preparation for an attack, none of that applies of course," Saks noted.
He also said that Israel has a wide choice of targets to choose from not all of which need be in Iran.
"But it seems to me that we are dealing with a very restrained strike against a military object that was previously used to attack Israel."
The expert said that while the U.S. has some influence over Israeli policy, it cannot order it to do or not do things. But Israel also realizes that simply bombing the territory of Iran would only do limited damage.
Effect of U.S. aid package mostly psychological
Rainer Saks also briefly talked about an aid package for Ukraine that the U.S. House of Representatives should vote on come Saturday.
"It seems right now that the vote will go ahead. But I would not rush to conclude that everything is clear – American politics is not that predictable anymore. It is true that Speaker Mike Johnson has made some strong statements in support of Ukraine, and the vote being either canceled or something going wrong would amount to political suicide for him."
Saks said that treating aid as loans is symbolic, and even if Ukraine will ever be required to repay it, the conditions will be so favorable as to not constitute a problem. He said that short-term effects of the aid package would mainly be psychological.
"The situation of Ukraine is more critical than before, while it's not yet disastrous. The American aid package would have a psychological effect. It would allow them to complement their stockpiles in terms of air defenses. It will not be possible for them to find a lot more artillery munitions," the expert said, adding that giving the Ukrainians certainty they'll be able to finance the war this year and in the first half of next one is what matters.
Saks suggested that it will be approximately a month after the package is approved before it will start to have an effect in Ukraine.
In terms of what would be the worst-case scenario for Ukraine right now, the security expert pointed to the possibility of Ukraine losing territory in Donbas over the coming months. "Still, we're talking about hundreds, not thousands of square kilometers."
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Editor: Urmet Kook, Marcus Turovski
Source: "Terevisioon"