Michael R. Gordon and Shayndi Raice
WSJ, Sept. 19, 2024
“Israel is restoring its deterrence brick by brick, operation by operation. … The message: We’ve deeply penetrated your systems and networks. We can kill any of you at any time—and will if you continue your war against us.”
In a long history of audacious operations, exploding pagers and walkie-talkies across Lebanon was one of Israel’s boldest feats. The question now ringing through Israel is whether it helps win the war.
There is broad agreement that the deadly sabotage of Hezbollah’s electronic communications was a short-term tactical success that sent its foe into disarray and incapacitated thousands of its fighters. It is among a string of attacks, including the recent killings of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders, that have helped re-establish the fearsome reputation of Israel’s military and intelligence services after the Oct. 7 attacks launched the war in Gaza and brought the Middle East to the brink of regional conflict.
“This sends a message to Hezbollah that this is going to look ugly for you,” said Amos Yadlin, a former head of military intelligence, assuming the attack was conducted by Israel, which hasn’t confirmed its involvement. “We aren’t going only to play with you on the northern border. It will be all over the place with some operations that we never did before.” .. [To read the full article, click here]