In an unsourced report, Channel 12 claimed the war cabinet decided to hit back “clearly and forcefully” against Iran with a response designed to send the message that Israel “will not allow an attack of that magnitude against it to pass without a reaction.”

The response would also be designed to make plain that Israel will not allow the Iranians to “establish the equation” they have sought to assert in recent days, the report said. This was an apparent reference to Iran’s warning that future Israeli strikes on Iranian territory, including its international diplomatic premises, will henceforth again be met by Iranian retaliatory strikes on Israel. ...

According to sources quoted in the Monday report, Gallant also told US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that “Israel won’t accept an equation in which Iran responds with a direct attack every time Israel strikes targets in Syria.”