On early Saturday morning local time, over 100 Israeli military aircraft carried out three waves of air strikes inside Iran, in addition to hitting air defenses along the way in Syria and Iraq. The attack, which targeted military bases and missile production facilities while avoiding nuclear sites and energy infrastructure, was Israel’s much anticipated response to Iran’s October 1 ballistic missile barrage.
JINSA’s Israeli military experts held a discussion on what we know about the Israeli strike, the possibility for Iranian retaliation, and how this will impact the broader conflict against Iran’s terrorist proxies. This webinar featured JINSA Distinguished Fellow IDF MG (ret.) Yaakov Amidror, JINSA’s Julian and Jenny Josephson Senior VP for Israeli Affairs IDF MG (ret.) Yaacov Ayish, and JINSA Distinguished Fellow IDF MG (ret.) Amikam Norkin. The discussion was moderated by JINSA’s Vice President for Policy, Blaise Misztal.
Key Quotes:
- IDF MG (ret.) Yaakov Amidror: “[Israel has been] speaking about an attack on Iran [for] at least 15 years. … For the self-confidence of Israel, this operation is very [key]. Now every decisionmaker understands that we have a tool [that can be exercised] … the basic [fact] of [the Israeli Air Force] hitting Iran, destroying [targets], and coming back without casualties … is very important. … it gives us kind of a freedom.”
- IDF MG (ret.) Yaakov Amidror: “Some [people] in America will have to ask [themselves], ‘were we right about … [our preconceived notions] about Iran?’ … Many experts in America, and in this case within the … professional echelons … will have to ask themselves many questions. … [They overestimated] the abilities of Iran.”
- IDF MG (ret.) Yaacov Ayish: “[The strike] was more than just a retaliation by Israel … I think it … led to four new elements. One was to restore … [Israel’s] deterrence. Second … was to expose Iran’s nuclear [program] … The third was the strike … exposed the weakness of Iran, and by that, contributed significantly to [weakening its proxies] … And all of those three [factors] led to … [undermining] Iran’s position as the major instigator of terror in the region.”
- IDF MG (ret.) Yaacov Ayish: “Air defense batteries [are both] very expensive [and a] scarce commodity. … The interesting part [of] this operation [is] the options that are now open for Israel for exposing and [neutralizing] certain [targets in Iran].”
- IDF MG (ret.) Amikam Norkin: “The targets [involving] the missiles industry that we [selected], they are a very important [target set]. Those machines affect the ability of Iran to produce ballistic missiles. … [Additionally, some of the] targets we attacked were used … to do some tests for the, let’s say, nuclear capabilities … [Iran also] had four [S-300 air defense systems], and we destroyed all four of them.”
- IDF MG (ret.) Amikam Norkin: ““[The Israeli strike] was [at] the right level at the right time, but we should prepare ourselves for a much larger one in the future. … We should build our force [up]. We are using the same platform[s] [on all fronts].”