Jerusalem Post: Killing Haniyeh in Tehran - huge image benefit for Benjamin Netanyahu

The main beneficiary of the killing in Tehran of the leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, is Benjamin Netanyahu, argue journalists Amir Bohbot and Philissa Cramer in the analyzes prepared for the Israeli publication Jerusalem Post, after the event that took place on Wednesday morning and which generated statements about the escalation of the conflict in Middle east.

The two say that the Israeli authorities could have eliminated Haniyeh in Qatar or Beirut - as they recently did with one of the Hezbollah leaders, Fuad Shukr, eliminated on Tuesday - but that the killing of the Hamas leader in Tehran, the capital of Iran it has a bigger impact that casts the Mossad, Shin-Bet and the IDF in a favorable light.

Amir Bohbot specifies: "Following the assassination of the political head of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, sources from the Israeli security services explained that the reason for establishing Tehran as the place to commit the attack was the fact that the Hamas leader was in charge of Iranian security, which proved that Iran is a sponsor and supporter of terrorists. If they wanted, Israeli forces could have eliminated Haniyeh in Qatar, but they chose to do so in Tehran for two reasons: first, to eliminate the Hamas chief, but mainly to place Iran at the center of the dilemma regarding the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. According to security sources, it has been some time since Iran felt it might lose its "proxies" in the Middle East. (...) Successful and precise countermeasures have proven that Israel, unlike Iran and its affiliates, does not harm uninvolved civilians, but strikes enemies with great precision. Consequently, senior Iranian officials understand the process taking place in the Middle East and begin to fear for their own fate as well."

Especially since the attack to which the Hamas leader fell victim took place just one day before the commemoration of the 300 days that have passed since the assault by Hamas terrorists on Israeli kibbutzim, which resulted in 1400 people killed and wounded and the taking of almost 300 hostages.

According to the quoted source, the Israeli security agents say that the next few days will be very tense and that is why joint assessments of the situation in the Middle East are constantly taking place.

"If there will be a change in the command from the front line, the citizens will be notified. The IDF maintains a heightened level of vigilance and is prepared for any scenario," Israeli agents told the quoted source.

However, some security officers are questioning why, when the IDF has demonstrated that it can strike at any time, on target, anywhere in Beirut to eliminate the leaders of terrorist groups, it waited for last Saturday's massacre at Majdal Shams , in which 12 children lost their lives on a football field. They stated to the cited source that if the IDF, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had their way, Fuad Shukr and Ismail Haniyeh would have been eliminated long before.

Regarding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Philissa Cramer argues that the killing of Hezbollah commander Ismail Haniyeh and Fuad Shukr provides the government in Tel Aviv with a rare, unambiguous moment of "mission accomplished."

Philissa Cramer states: "A video circulated of Haniyeh celebrating on October 7, 2023, while watching footage of Hamas terrorists attacking, terrorizing and killing Israelis. Knowing that he is dead, probably by order of the government, there are many of our citizens who are now celebrating this assassination, even as they remain concerned about the consequences of the assassination. The particular circumstances of Haniyeh's death in a precision strike in Iran is a particular boon for confidence in Israel's military and intelligence apparatus, which was seriously shaken by the success of the attack carried out by members of the terrorist group Hamas on October 7, 2023. As for Benjamin Netanyahu (...), polls have shown that his popularity has increased in recent weeks, and Haniyeh's death during his term seems to bring him new points in terms of popularity and citizens' trust in the government. Even though, in Wednesday night's statements, Netanyahu did not acknowledge Israel's role in Haniyeh's death, speaking generally and referring to other recent killings of terrorist leaders, he said that those assassinations were justified."

The cited source also shows that the killing of the Hamas leader led to the passing of another event, namely the abuse exercised by IDF soldiers on Palestinian prisoners taken following the conflict in Gaza, into the background.

"The incident exposed divisions between the government and the military, while the abuse scandal activated moral alarm. Now, while the media in Israel was covering this incident, he was relegated to the background of Haniyeh's assassination and what will come next," the quoted source said.

Philissa Cramer's analysis notes that, despite statements by the Qatari prime minister condemning the assassination of the Hamas leader, it appears that his killing also suits the authorities in Doha.

The quoted source states: "Haniyeh lived in Qatar, traveling with relative ease to Iran and other places that are friendly to Hamas. The tragedy on October 7, 2023 made Haniyeh's residence in Qatar politically problematic for the Gulf state, which seeks a relationship with the West and does not want to be listed as a state sponsor of terrorism. Under pressure from the US, Qatar threatened Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders there with exile if they did not seek to end the Israel-Hamas war. Haniyeh's death takes some of that pressure off Qatar, where Ismail Haniyeh is to be buried today in Doha."

As for Iran, the two Jerusalem Post analyzes show that authorities in Tehran were humiliated by the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in that city, with the assassination demonstrating that the country led by Ayatollah Ali Khameini faces major security vulnerabilities, including a possible undetected Israeli presence.