With vast experience in fighting against terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, the political and military ranks are managing the current campaign with precision.
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Not only in the operational precision of the attacks, but also in regard to the intelligence navigation of the moves; with patience, surprise, and sophistication, leaving the initiative in our hands and disconnecting Hamas from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which has not yet prepared itself for this, and is "messing with the wrong country."
Operation Shield and Arrow is the official title of the campaign, but under the special circumstances in which it was launched, it might be more correct to call it Operation of the Message that Resonated, since the consequences of the Israeli attacks in the past two days extend much further than a one-off incident.
First and foremost, Israel has made it clear to everyone who thought otherwise – both at home and abroad – that it still is a deterring power. The command chain, from the political echelon to the last of the drones, all work as they should: with coordination, efficiency, reliability, precision, and a concentration of power based on the timing that we choose.
Anyone who doubted this ability, in light of the judicial reform, the protests that followed and the inappropriate refusal of military service it generated, was witness to clear visions that brought them back down to earth very quickly. The nation in Zion once again saw itself fighting as a unified unit, shoulder to shoulder, despite all differences.
Second, the terrorist organizations. If until the early hours of Tuesday morning it seemed to anyone that the "full right-wing government" was actually "limp," the attack in Gaza came to show the exact opposite.
Hamas has known of Israel's abilities for a long time. Quite amazingly, the organization has the same interests as Israel and wants stability and peace.
Therefore, in the two years since Operation Guardian of the Walls, the terror group, whose declared goal is to wipe the Jewish state off the map, has aligned itself with Israel's moves. Hamas has quietly allowed workers to leave Gaza to Israel and avoids getting involved in Palestinian Islamic Jihad provocations.
The PIJ, whose ties with Iran are tighter, is the one who now needs to learn the lesson. Contrary to everything we have experienced in the past, the organization refrained from reacting to the Israeli attack for almost 24 hours.
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According to all indications in Israel, the PIJ was in real shock at the "elimination of his entire operational chain of command."
"There was no one there to give an order to shoot. No terrorist organization has ever suffered such a blow," boasted a senior political official to me last night.
More important than both Hamas and PIJ is, of course, their sponsor – Iran. Inspired by it, Israel dropped on the eve of its Independence Day to a discouraging low when it was attacked on four fronts: Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and Judea and Samaria.
Operation Shield and Arrow has turned the tables on the "multi-site threat," mainly towards the force that is promoting the pinpointing movement behind it, a.k.a Iran. So, even though dozens of aircraft were flying over Gaza, the blast of the rockets they launched reached as far as Tehran.
This is the message that resonated, all the way from here to Iran.
