Operation Rising Lion has reinvigorated Israeli national confidence. Following the systematic dismantling of Hezbollah and devastating strikes against Hamas, numerous Israelis believe they have finally reclaimed lost deterrence and achieved a decisive victory over the nation's adversaries. Yet the acclaim extends well beyond Israeli borders. Military analysts publishing assessments of developments in Tehran and Isfahan are offering effusive praise for the sophisticated execution of this formidable operation.
"Rising Lion is a blueprint for future joint campaigns and suggests key investments the U.S. military will need to make to adapt to the changing character of war," Benjamin Jensen from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) observed. Addressing Iran's initial bombardment, Jensen emphasized that "the attack illustrates how combinations of conventional long-range strikes and unconventional operations have a unique role in modern war," he commented regarding Mossad activities on Iranian territory.
According to Jensen, drone formations and advanced intelligence systems broaden battlefield dimensions while strengthening connections between strategic, operational, and tactical levels. "It creates a new form of campaigning in which a series of audacious raids, defined by relative superiority, create operational-level effects, which in this case shocked Iran sufficiently to conduct strikes in depth across the country targeting leadership, nuclear facilities, air defense, and ballistic missiles.
"Deep integration of special operations forces, autonomous drones, and AI-enabled intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance is now the baseline for theater entry because these "ungentlemanly robots" overwhelm air defenses and disrupt command loops faster than any single strike package."
Combining clandestine positioning with extended-range firepower undermines strategic deterrence, severely compresses adversary decision-making processes, and shrinks crisis management opportunities from hours or days to minutes, effectively immobilizing opponents. "Israel's strike—dubbed Operation Rising Lion—shattered the Iranian regime's confidence in its own security apparatus," Zineb Riboua from the Hudson Institute wrote on June 13. She observed that "the Islamic Republic of Iran experienced a strategic collapse that altered the balance of power in the Middle East.
"Israel's operational concept combined a decapitation strike with cognitive disruption. The psychological warfare element—that the strike had come from Iranian soil—amplified the attack's kinetic effects, leaving Tehran paralyzed." This analyst also considers this represents more than an isolated operation, but rather a transformation in national conflict approaches. "Operation Rising Lion provides a concrete demonstration of what effective counterproliferation requires. The operation serves as a reminder that diplomacy needs to be backed by credible power, intelligence superiority, and close coordination with trusted partners.
"Israel functions as a regional nonproliferation anchor... Negotiation leverage is built on the battlefield, not at the table. Diplomatic strength is a function of prior operational advantage," she elaborated. "Operation Rising Lion demonstrated how modern warfare is shaped by perception, disruption, and initiative. Israel dismantled core elements of Iran's command structure, eliminated key personnel tied to nuclear development, and exposed the gaps in Iran's internal defenses. More critically, it disrupted the strategic logic that underpins Iran's regional posture.
"Tehran had assumed that escalation could be delayed, that its territorial depth provided insulation, and that Israel would remain constrained by political and diplomatic pressures. On June 13 those assumptions collapsed."
Graham Scarbro, a US Navy officer, conducted his own operational assessment, stating that "the opening strikes by the Israel Defense Forces on targets in Iran under "Operation Rising Lion" will be studied for years to come." He contends Israel overcame geographic challenges by securing Syrian border control and southern territorial access. "Syrian and Iraqi airspace are therefore both open and accessible to Israel, and they form the most likely axis of attack into Iran."
His detailed examination dissected Israeli operations through comprehensive technical analysis. Particularly, he highlighted that executing precision targeting against senior Iranian military commanders and Revolutionary Guard leadership demanded exceptional courage and expertise. "requiring these small, single-engine fighters to get close to their targets and maintain sensor contact until weapons impact. This concept of operations requires a high level of proficiency by strike crews but also maximizes flexibility and precision."
