In case of an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, both the United States and Russia could join the battle to help the either side.
As there is no sign of ease of tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, the probability that the tit-for-tat military actions between the two could finally lead to an all-out war is no longer out of question. Any major escalation started either by Israel or Hezbollah can very well get two of the world’s powers, namely the United States and Russia, involved in the war. But how Washington and Moscow might come to the scene in case of a war between Israel and Hezbollah?
US involvement in an Israel-Hezbollah war
Bringing the US into Israel’s wars has been Tel Aviv’s main goal since September 11, 2001. Although Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Brown recently stated that the United States “may not be able to help Israel in the event of a war with Hezbollah,” this should not be taken as a serious military assessment by Washington.
Rather, it is a political statement from the Biden administration to show that it does not want to join another major war before the November 5 election. But Netanyahu knows that Israel has control over the US Congress and the US media. In fact, Israel has brought all the representatives and 100 senators of the US Congress under the control of its lobby group,the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC AIPAC.
Once the war begins, Israeli operatives in the White House, the media, and Congress will campaign for US military involvement. That’s why Netanyahu once said: “I know what America is. America is something you can easily control and move it in the right direction.”
If the US intervenes in such a war – which is highly likely – Iran will (reluctantly) join the war and try to inflict catastrophic damage on US land and sea assets in West Asia. Washington will abandon Israel only when ships, bases and hundreds (or thousands) of American lives are destroyed for Israel.
The possibility of Russia entering the war between Israel and Hezbollah
Defeating the United States in such a war would increase popular support for Russia among the Muslim world and help push the US out of West Asia, a goal that Russia and China would undoubtedly support.
Russia has made significant military and economic investments and alliances with Tehran, especially after the start of the Ukraine war. The country is also on the verge of signing a new comprehensive cooperation agreement with Iran. The Kremlin would therefore do anything not to allow the Islamic Republic to collapse or incur irreversible damage. That’s why in the event of a war between Hezbollah and Israel and the intervention of the United States and Iran, it is highly likely that Russia would come to the scene and provide significant intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support to Iran through its satellites and planes in Syria.
Russia is also expected to allow the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to use its Hmeimim air base in the southeast of Syria, because if the war erupts, the Israeli army will undoubtedly try to prevent supplies from reaching the airports of Aleppo and Damascus. Russia could also send air defense batteries, missiles and other anti-aircraft weaponry to the Syrian army and Hezbollah to help Iran.
