Containment in the Middle EastNational security affairs analyst Ehud Eilam examines the strategy of containment in the Middle East as it is currently pursued. For the United States, containment is a way to avoid war with Iran and thwart its nuclear weapons program. For Israel it has been a way to prevent a confrontation with the Palestinians in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In other cases containment is meant to weaken a foe without starting a war, as Israel did by