“History is littered,” the British writer and politician Enoch Powell said, “with the wars which everybody knew would never happen.”A full-blown conflict between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Israel once seemed implausible.
Iran and Israel are not natural adversaries.
In contrast to other modern conflicts — between Israel and Palestine, Russia and Ukraine, China and Taiwan — Iran and Israel have no bilateral land or resource disputes.
Their national strengths — Iran is an energy titan and Israel is a tech innovator — are more complementary than competitive.
Iran was the second Muslim nation, after Turkey, to recognize Israel after its founding in 1948.
Persons:
Enoch Powell, specter, King Cyrus the Great
Locations:
Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, United States, Iran, Palestine, Russia, Ukraine, China, Taiwan, Turkey