According to what has been reported in foreign media so far, Israel carried out a relatively small strike near Isfahan's airport on Thursday night in retaliation to the Iranian attack from the weekend. This was the site where some of the Iranian ballistic missiles were launched against Israel in the barrage on Saturday night. So far, Israel has yet to officially confirm it was behind the overnight operation.
The limited scope of the attack and Israel's non-acknowledgment of responsibility have allowed the Iranians to tell their people and the world that this was nothing.
And this seems good for everyone. The silence is in line with the public statements of the member of the War Cabinet and the person who has a significant influence on Netanyahu, Minister Aryeh Deri: "It is impossible to be against the whole world – we need to restrain ourselves and be patient. Our enemies are seeking to have us face a multi-theater war, we must not give them that."
In other words, the purpose of the Israeli operation (according to foreign sources) was not to deprive Iran of any military capability, but only to convey the message that "we can harm you on your territory." By doing so, Israel wants to signal its intention to end the cycle created by the assassination incident in Damascus, where an Iranian general and other officials were allegedly taken out by Israel.
Supreme Leader Khamenei defined the assassination in the Iranian "consulate" in Damascus as "an attack on Iranian sovereign soil." In his view, this was the justification for the largest-ever missile and drone attack carried out against Israel on Saturday night. Israel, in what is seemingly attributed to it as a response, "went along" with his narrative. In other words, Israel is telling the ayatollahs, "We understand that this is how you interpret the elimination of the general in Damascus, nevertheless, we cannot but react to what you did. So here is a symbolic response, and let's go back to the status quo that existed before where we do not overtly attack you, and you do not overtly attack us." This limited approach also gives Israel brownie points in the West, which had called on Israel to respond in a restrained manner.
Will this put an end to the direct confrontation with Iran, and will we return to fighting "only" against its proxies? The ball is in Iran's court. There is reason to believe that Khamenei, given his age and condition as mentioned, will seek additional reasons to directly harm Israel, but time will tell. What is certain: Israel must quickly build a strong, long-range, accurate, and lethal missile force to deter Iran, as the wisest of statesmen, Yuval Steinitz, once proposed.
It is impossible and pointless to send Israeli Air Force planes to Tehran every other day. That's what missiles are for in this world. Because what is certain is that even if this round is closed, in the long run, as long as Khamenei is alive, a direct and extensive confrontation with Iran is only a matter of time.
