Iran’s unprecedented strikes on Israel this weekend have shaken Israel’s assumptions about its foe, undermining its long-held calculation that Iran would be best deterred by greater Israeli aggression.
For years, Israeli officials have argued, both in public and in private, that the harder Iran is hit, the warier it will be about fighting back.
Iran’s barrage of more than 300 drones and missiles on Saturday — the first direct attack by Iran on Israel — has overturned that logic.
The attack was a response to Israel’s strike earlier this month in Syria that killed seven Iranian military officials there.
“I think we miscalculated,” said Sima Shine, a former head of research for the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency.
Persons:
Israel —, Israel, ”, Sima Shine
Locations:
Israel, Iran, Syria, Tehran, Lebanon, Yemen