Mehdi Hasan: ‘It’s Because [Israel] Has Iron Dome that It Acts So Recklessly Because It Knows It Has Impunity’

EXCERPT:

HASAN: "The problem is that Israel doesn’t simply use Iron Dome in a defensive capacity. It uses Iron Dome to project force abroad. It’s because it has Iron Dome that it acts so recklessly, because it knows it has impunity. It’s because it has American support that it can do what it does. I can think of no other country on Planet Earth that has attacked five different countries in the last year. Israel has attacked Iran, Syria, Yemen and, of course, West Bank and Gaza, constant bombing of both of those places, and Lebanon, right, so four countries plus occupied Palestinian territories. Part of the reason it's able to do that is because it says, 'Well, I’m the bully in the neighborhood, I'm the big boy, I’ve got the super power behind me. I’ve got Iron Dome. Come get me.' And I think that’s — I think that’s a fundamental part of its strategic thinking, is that, 'We can act aggressively, recklessly unilaterally, preemptively,' if that’s the phrase they want to use, 'because we have this support from big brother United States in the form of Iron Dome.’”