Israel Carefully Measured Its Response

Feeling the terrific American pressure not to respond to Iran’s attack on February 14, in which 360 drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles were fired at Israel — 99% of them were intercepted or failed on launch or while in flight — Israel chose to do the minimum. It could not have let the Iranian attack pass without a response, but it wanted to do so in a manner that would keep the Bidenites satisfied that there had been no “escalation,” and furthermore, wanted to give Iran the excuse it needed for inaction. A missile, or perhaps several, struck a site or sites in Isfahan. Apparently, one missile took out the defenses at the Natanz nuclear site without the Iranians detecting it. The IDF’s message was this: we could have easily destroyed those targets in Isfahan, but chose not to. Don’t test our patience again.

Iranian spokesmen understood. They put on a blasé face, claimed that the Israeli strike “caused no damage” and was scarcely worth responding to. But they know that should Tehran try its luck again and attack the Jewish state — say, as a way to respond to a particularly devastating assault by the IDF on Hezbollah — the targets Israel deliberately did not hit this time, especially the nuclear program, will then be destroyed, along with many other sites all over Iran.

Many in Israel are disappointed; Itamar Ben-Gvir called the Israeli response “feeble.” But Israel was making several points at once. To the Americans, it was signaling that it had now met the American demand that there be no serious “escalation”with Iran, which is what the Bidenites were so keen to avoid. At the same time, as a quid pro quo for such restraint, Israel expects that the Americans will now stop trying to prevent Israel from invading Rafah. It wants to finish the job in Gaza, destroy those last four intact battalions of Hamas in Rafah, and kill Yahya Sinwar, who masterminded the October 7 attack and is believed hiding in Rafah, in order to put paid to the terror group. If Hezbollah is foolish enough to keep attacking Israel during this period it will be subject to a terrific campaign from the air. But in the calculation of the Israeli government, Hamas has to first be checked off the IDF’s To-Do list, and then the Israelis can turn their full attention to making life difficult for Hassan Nasrallah and his goosestepping bezonians, as the IDF deals with the 150,000 rockets and missiles Hezbollah now possesses. Do you doubt that somehow the wonder-working IDF will find a way? Hezbollah can’t expect help from Iran; Tehran has been suitably chastened by its miserable performance on April 13-14, when 99% of its drones, and cruise and ballistic missiles, were either shot down by Israel and its ad hoc allies, or failed at launch, or in flight.

The Iranians can call Israel’s strike hitting a few targets in Isfahan, but deliberately missing the most important sites — its army bases and its nuclear facilities — “pathetic,” but Israel was showing that it could, at will, launch rockets deep into Iran, and possibly did so even from inside Iran, without them being intercepted, and could even take out the air defenses at Natanz without the Iranians realizing it. Had the IDF wanted to strike both army bases near Isfahan and, most importantly, nuclear sites such as the underground enrichment plant at Natanz, it could have done so. It held back but delivered a wordless message: we have complete mastery of the skies over Iran.

At the same time, the actual damage was minimal — deliberately so — in order that Iran, which had blustered about the terrific attack it would unleash if Israel attacked, could instead make light of the attack, claiming that it did no damage and so was not worth responding to.

Right now, thanks to Israel’s decision to hold back, tensions are again easing. The Iranians can claim that Israel’s response was “ineffectual,” “pathetic,” “not worth responding to.” The Israelis have shown the world that they are much more level-headed and measured than the Iranians who, maddened by antisemitic hate, tried to destroy much of the Jewish state, and failed miserably. And the Americans should be grateful for Israel’s decision to hold back in its response to Iran’s massive attack. Remember that, Bidenites, and leave Israel alone to finish off Hamas in Rafah without any more of your messy interference.