NEW YORK, April 10. /TASS/. Some people in Israel and certain other countries believe that following the Israeli strike on Iranian diplomatic sites in Syria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is willing to take a risk of starting a war with Iran to stay in office, US journalist Seymour Hersh said in his blog on Substack.

"The Israeli bombing attack in Syria was a stunning escalation of what has been for decades a low-level tit-for-tat war between Damascus, Tehran, and Tel Aviv. It immediately raised speculation in Israel and elsewhere that Netanyahu is willing to risk war with Iran to stay in office," he wrote.

The journalist also pointed to Netanyahu’s "obvious determination to stay in power by expanding Israel’s far-from-completed war in Gaza." According to Hersh, Netanyahu's actions send a message to the US and the world that he will continue to do whatever he wants.

The journalist added that Iran repeatedly made it clear that it does not want an all-out war with Israel.

On April 1, the Syrian news agency SANA reported that the Israeli Air Force struck a building in Damascus. Iranian news media said the building was the Iranian consulate. The IRGC’s public relations office reported that seven military advisers were killed: generals Mohammed Reza Zahedi and Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, along with five other officers.

Russia strongly condemned the Israeli attack on the consulate and requested a UN Security Council meeting on the issue. The Israel Defense Forces, when asked by TASS, declined to comment on the Israeli strike on Damascus.