Tough call
Iran demonstrated they can launch from home and actually hit targets in Israel
Iran tested Israel air defense and gathered valuable data
Iran sent over plentiful cheap drones and forced Isreal/US/UK to fire EXPENSIVE arms to shoot down the cheap drones
Israel lost a lot of leverage this past weekend
“”””Iran sent over plentiful cheap drones and forced Isreal/US/UK to fire EXPENSIVE arms to shoot down the cheap drones””””
There was more than just the 170 or so drones.
There was also 30 cruise missiles, and at least 110 ballistic missiles.
Which goes to show that Israel NEEDS to do something to take out their armament because otherwise Iran can wear them out by using up their defenses.
Israel needs to hit them hard enough to cause them to either be incapable of launching another attack, or to make them think twice about doing it.
One thing Israel has been great at throughout their history is pulling off the unexpected.
The Mossad went into Argentina and snatched Adolph Eichman and smuggled him out of the country to stand trial in Israel.
They flew commandos into Uganda and rescued a bunch of hostages being held in Entebbe.
They sent an assassination team into Europe and took out a bunch of people responsible for the killing of the Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics.
They took out the Nuclear Reactor in Iraq.
I would not be surprised to see a bunch of things blowing up all over Iran or some other type of action no one expects.
Iran lost more than leverage. They lost credibility and their most capable weapons, fear and intimidation.
There were 30 cruise missiles and 110 ballistic missiles by one estimate. Those weapons are not cheap drones. All but a few ballistic missiles were shot down. What is getting little discussion is how effective the Middle East Air Defense worked. Four countries shot down 300 missiles in eight hours over the 1,000 miles from Iran to Israel. Given all the complaints about western air defense since the Gulf Wars to Ukraine, it is surprising that this is not getting more attention.
Iran spent years and billions building up its missile forces. Their most feared attack was shot down in a night. Iran has no friends, and lots of enemies who just showed they can stand up to them. That has got to have the Iranian leadership worried about what comes next.