Israel weighs response to Iran attack, with each choice a risk

Israeli leaders on Tuesday were debating how best to respond to Iran's unprecedented weekend airstrike, officials said, weighing a set of options calibrated to achieve different strategic outcomes: deterring a similar attack in the future, placating their American allies and avoiding all-out war.

Iran's attack on Israel, an immense barrage that included hundreds of ballistic missiles and exploding drones, changed the unspoken rules in the archrivals' long-running shadow war. In that conflict, major airstrikes from one country's territory directly against the other had been avoided.

As Israel's war Cabinet met to consider a military response, other countries were applying diplomatic pressure to both Israel and Iran in the hopes of de-escalating the conflict.

Almost all of the missiles and drones fired in Iran's attack early Sunday were intercepted by Israel and...