SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The conflict in the Middle East has been going on for decades, and everything is heightened as the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel nears along with Iran’s recent retaliation and Israel’s promise to respond.
Sahar Razavi, director of Iranian and Middle Eastern Studies at Sacramento State University, said at the center of the conflict is a territorial war between Israel and Palestine. The situation escalated in the last year with Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
“Conflict between not just the directly involved parties but several parties in the region, and there is definitely fear of a greater escalation and a regional conflagration which would bring Iran, Lebanon, possibly Syria and even beyond the region even Russia... certainly there is also fear about the United States becoming involved, as you know, the United States and Israel are very strong allies,” Razavi said.
Iran launched rockets at Israel Tuesday in retaliation for the death of Hezbollah leaders. Israel has vowed to respond. Iran said they will also escalate. Razavi described it as a power struggle, framed as ideological and security threats.
“Each government does not have much of choice except to posture in this way for fear of being perceived as soft,” Razavi said.
The conflict in the Middle East was the first question of Tuesday’s Vice Presidential debate.
Sen. JD Vance made these remarks: “Look, it is up to Israel what they think they need to do to keep their country safe....”
Gov. Tim Walz said: “Israel's ability to be able to defend itself is absolutely fundamental.”
Razavi said this is the answer she expected.
All this is happening while Wednesday is the first night of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year festival.
“I mean, the 1973 war is called the 'Yom Kippur War.' I don’t actually think it is going to be significantly different than experiences that Israel has had in the past. I also think it’s a little too soon to know what exactly is going to happen next between Iran and Israel,” Razavi said.
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