The Israeli Air Force has a long history of remarkable exploits, but never more so than this past year. More on its achievements can be found here: “Israel’s Unprecedented 2024 Airstrikes Against Lebanon, Iran And Syria,” by Paul Iddon, Forbes, December 13, 2024:
Historically, Israel has launched some pioneering air campaigns that were unprecedented in their times. These include its devastating surprise attack against Egypt in the June 1967 Six Day War, its bombing of Iraq’s nuclear reactor in 1981, and its sophisticated suppression and destruction of Syrian air defenses in Lebanon the following year.
Let’s not forget the IAF’s bombing of the Syrian nuclear reactor at Al-Kibar in 2007. Or the long trip of an IAF plane from Tel Aviv to Entebbe to rescue the Jewish hostages being held by Arab terrorists on July 4,1976.
However, beginning in late September 2024, Israel launched three air campaigns in three countries that may exceed these precedents in many ways, including sophistication and scale….
More recently, on October 26, 2024, Israel executed its most daring suppression and destruction of enemy air defenses since Mole Cricket 19, carried out over a greater distance and against more targets than the sole target of Operation Opera.
Codenamed Operation Days of Repentance, it targeted an estimated 20 Iranian missile production sites and air defenses. Over 100 Israeli aircraft participated, along with an unknown number and type of drones. Several accounts claimed it neutralized Iran’s Russian-built S-300 air defense missile systems, the most advanced Russian system in Iran’s arsenal. These air defenses were far more sophisticated than Syria’s Soviet-made SA-6s, also known as the 2K12 Kub, in the Beqaa 42 years prior.
Then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant compared the night of strikes to Operation Focus, the surprise opening salvos of the 1967 war that saw the IAF destroy most of the Egyptian Air Force on the ground in Sinai.
In less than five hours on June 5, the IAF destroyed a total of 450 aircraft belonging to Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. Egypt suffered the greatest losses — 338 aircraft were downed, and 18 of its airbases were no longer functioning. Israel lost 19 planes. This was one of the greatest aerial victories in history.
2024 has been an annus mirabilis for the IAF. The Israeli Air Force has been a key to the success of the Jewish state as it has been fighting a four-front war this year, against Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and Iran, while also destroying 80% of the military assets in Syria. And now it has only one last task to fulfill, which will probably have to wait until Trump takes office, and 30,000-pound bunker bombs are at last supplied by the Americans to the IAF — that is, the destruction of Iran’s nuclear program. The Islamic Republic is reported by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, to be rushing pell-mell to increase its stock of uranium enriched to a level 60% purity, one step away from weapons-grade. Does anyone doubt that the IAF pilots are getting ready for the most important task in the history of Israel’s air force: preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons that It would undoubtedly use to destroy the Jewish state?
Colin Woodbridge says
Did these strikes against missile production sites include the Shahad missiles which Iran has been exporting to Russia for use against Ukraine? I hope so,
Cynthia says
The Israeli Air Force is the pinnacle of daring and technology. If Biden didn’t block Israel at every turn, Iran’s nuclear weapons would already be destroyed.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
They did a good job last week decimating the entire Syrian military. Now it’s largely irrelevant to geopolitics who ends up running Syria (aside from the lamentable plight of Christians, Druze and Kurds)
Hopefully, after January 20th, they can resume on Iran and do to them what they did to Syria. Let the Iranian people then have an uprising
Bexarkat says
As has been often said since 1967, כל הכבוד לצ’יל אביר, or kol havod lachil avir!! In the Golan in 1973 I witnessed many Israeli aircraft being shot down by Russian SAMS. Yet those pilots persevered and continued to fly – until victory!
James Lincoln says
The Israeli Air Force is absolutely stellar.
I’ve had the finest tactical US Naval Aviators admit to me – in private – that they would not want to go up against the IAF.
All theoretically, of course.