Israel is again proving the extraordinary prowess of its security services, both military and intelligence. After four days of air strikes, Iran began signaling that it wants to resume the nuclear talks it broke off with the U.S. on Sunday.
Yet that makes it all the more important to understand the scope of Israeli ambitions and of the gamble that’s being taken; because, depending on how far Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to go, the military success can either serve to promote or distance his goal of preventing an Iranian nuclear breakout.
Perhaps the two most striking aspects of Operation Rising Lion have been the depth to which the Israeli intelligence services were able to penetrate the Iranian regime, and the speed with which its air force established air superiority. This has allowed Israeli pilots to range over much of Iran — including its capital — with relative impunity. Iran’s long-range ballistic missiles seem a blunt instrument by comparison.
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