Do the words "sunni" and "shia" mean anything to you? Muslims kill lots of other muslims.
The Saudi people might bitch a little, but the Saudi royals are bidnessmen. And stable markets are good for bidness.
Yeah, and if one eliminates the other, they will turn in on themselves. No one will ever be 'muslim enough' for a True Believer.
The house of Saud doesn't only have to worry about their own everloving subjects, they have to worry about Iranian sponsored assassins as well. Striking a blow, no matter how ineffectual, against Iran's attackers will go a long ways towards mollifying them.
The Saudi people might bitch a little, but the Saudi royals are bidnessmen. And stable markets are good for bidness.
And bidnesssmen recognize that Iran is a threat to stability in general, and by maintaining the ability to choke off the Strait of Hormuz, to Saudi in particular.
I can't speak to all the reasoning that would go into their calculus of the situation, but being able to have Iran wounded, and Israel plausibly deniably punished might be perceived as a good idea.
I guess what I'm really trying to say is Israel needs to watch its six.
Although I am quite certain they all know the story of the frog and the scorpion...