“Couldn’t they also hit Mecca and Medina?”
The purpose of such an attack? Israel isn’t pariah enough? Seriously, in the first wave you’d only attack priority one targets; those that can hit you. In the second wave you’d go after whatever targets further your longer term agenda; factories, marshaling yards, storage facilities. Perhaps, if you wanted to take out Iran’s ability to do anything at all, you’d hit their oil. No oil, no nukes, no food; no Iran. But taking out religious targets? Israel has its own leftist lunatics and Netanyahu has to hold together a very broad coalition to keep power. What would it gain him compared to the what it loses for him?
I’m sure the IDF has contingency plans that include taking out Mecca.
“The purpose of such an attack?”
To break their hearts. Wars are won when he enemy loses everything they hold dear, and the fun is gone, and the will to fight is ruined.
Berlin,,, Tokyo,,, Hanoi,,, etc. While a war cannot be won only with such attacks, they have a crucial place. Our modern tactic of only fighting enemy shooters, while reverently avoiding the homes they love is failing.
You cannot simultaneously respect their home, and defeat them.
Mecca and Medina, Islamabad and Kabul, being blasted into nuclear waste would have been the perfect response to 911.
Without a single statement from us, and not a dime of relief.
The world would have got a clear message.
As long as Mecca and Medina are known to be off the list, the Saudis have no reason to stop funding jihad.