Israel has abandoned plans for a larger counterattack against Iran after concerted diplomatic pressure from the United States and other foreign allies and because the brunt of an Iranian attack on Israeli soil has been thwarted, according to three senior Israeli officials. .
Israeli leaders initially discussed shelling several military targets across Iran, including near the Iranian capital Tehran, last week in retaliation for the April 13 attack on Iran, officials said. He spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss this delicate discussion.
Such a widespread and pernicious attack would have been far more difficult for Iran to overlook, increasing the likelihood of a strong Iranian counterattack and potentially pushing the Middle East to the brink of a major regional conflict.
Ultimately, after President Biden, along with the British and German foreign ministers, urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to prevent an escalation of the war, Israel on Friday opted for a more limited strike, avoiding serious damage and risking possible escalation. reduced. At least for now.
Still, in the view of Israeli officials, the attack showed Iran the breadth and sophistication of Israel's military arsenal.
Instead of sending fighter jets into Iranian airspace, Israel on Friday fired a small number of missiles from an aircraft hundreds of miles to the west, according to an Israeli official and two senior Western officials briefed on the attack. Israel also sent small attack drones known as quadcopters to disrupt Iran's air defenses, Israeli officials said.
Iranian military facilities have been attacked by such drones several times in recent years, and Iran has repeatedly stated that it does not know who the drones belong to, a claim interpreted as Iran's reluctance to respond. has been done.
On Friday, one missile hit an anti-aircraft battery in a strategically important area of central Iran and another exploded in midair, officials said. One Israeli official said the Israeli Air Force intentionally destroyed the second missile to avoid undue damage after it became clear that the first missile had reached its target. One Western official said the missile may have simply malfunctioned.
Officials say Israel's intention is to allow Iran to continue its actions without a similar response, while at the same time allowing Israel to attack Iran without entering its airspace or activating its air defense batteries. He said this suggests that he has developed the ability. Israel also hopes to demonstrate that it can attack these batteries, located in a part of central Iran that is home to several major nuclear facilities, including the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, and if it attempts to do so. It was suggested that they may have been able to reach these facilities as well.
The Israeli military declined to comment.
The path to this attack began on April 1, when Israel attacked the Iranian embassy complex Seven Iranian officials, including three senior military officials, were killed in Damascus, Syria. Because Iran has not retaliated after carrying out several similar attacks in the past, Israeli officials say they believe it may continue such attacks without eliciting a significant reaction from Iran.
This time the situation turned out to be different. Within a week, Iran began privately telling its neighbors and diplomats that its patience had run out and it would respond with a major attack on Israel. This is the first direct attack on Israeli soil in history.
During the week of April 8, Israel began preparing for two major military responses, according to Israeli officials.
The first is a defensive operation to thwart an expected Iranian attack, coordinating with U.S. Central Command (whose top commander, Gen. Michael E. Kurilla, visited Israel that week) and British, French, and Jordanian militaries. did.
The second was a large-scale offensive operation that would be carried out in the event of an Iranian attack. Israeli intelligence initially believed Iran was planning an attack with a “swarm” of large drones and up to 10 ballistic missiles, Israeli officials said. As the week progressed, that estimate increased to 60 missiles, increasing Israel's desire for a powerful counterattack.
Israel's military and political leaders began discussing counterattacks that could be launched as soon as Iran began launching its drones — even before it was known how much damage the drones were causing. According to one official, the plan was submitted to Israel's war cabinet by Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Helj Halevi and Air Force Commander Tomer Bar in the early hours of Friday, April 12, two days before the Iranian attack. It is said that
Officials say Israel's intentions have changed in the wake of the Iranian attack. The attack was even larger than expected, involving more than 100 ballistic missiles, 170 unmanned aircraft, and about 30 cruise missiles, making it one of the largest barrages of its kind in military history.
However, Israeli defense forces in conjunction with US, British, French and Jordanian pilots shot down most of the missiles and drones, and damage on the ground was limited, reducing the need for a rapid response. . And there were also questions about whether Israel should risk shifting its focus away from defense while the attack was still underway. This was announced by two officials.
But the turning point was an early morning phone call between Netanyahu and Biden, in which the American president encouraged the Israeli leader to treat a successful defense as a victory requiring no further response. said three Israelis and officials. Western officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss these discussions. Israel said Netanyahu came out of the phone call to oppose immediate retaliation.
The next day, the Israeli government began to signal to its foreign allies that it still planned to respond, but only in a far less restrained manner than previous plans, one senior Western official said.
Israeli officials say the plan hopes to get their point across to Iranian officials without publicly humiliating them, instead of a broader counterattack that would lead Iranian leaders to believe a similar response is their only option. He says he has settled on.
Israeli officials said they had originally planned the attack on Monday night, fearing that Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia that has been in a low-level conflict with Israel since October, would significantly escalate the fighting. The company reportedly withdrew at the last minute amid concerns that it might not be possible. The intensity of attacks on northern Israel.
Israeli and Western officials say foreign officials continued to urge Israel not to react at all, but to no avail, and that the country's willingness to accept an Israeli attack gave Iran an incentive to act without losing face. He was left with the option of continuing.
After Israel finally carried out the attack early Friday, Iranian authorities did just that, focusing on the small drone rather than the missile and ignoring its impact.
Tehran officials also largely avoided blaming Israel for the assault. This, combined with Israel's own decision not to claim responsibility, helped reduce the risk of escalation.
Eric Schmidt and Farnas Fasihi Contributed to the report.