“We have restored deterrence,” declares Amos Yadlin, the former chief of Israeli military intelligence, referring to the credibility that Israel’s security services lost on October 7, 2023, when Palestinian radicals rampaged through southern Israel, killing more than 1,100 people and kidnapping some. 250.
This has been reclaimed by Israel’s devastating offensive against Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group that has been bombing northern Israel for the past year, displacing some 60,000 civilians. In just two weeks, Israel has killed and wounded many Hezbollah operatives using pagers and walkie-talkies, assassinated several of its leaders in bombings, and sent troops into southern Lebanon to destroy tunnels, bases, and rocket launchers used by Hezbollah. in its attacks.