The end of Operation Shield and Arrow shows Iran in its weakness. The operation was the first round of escalation at a time when Iran describes Israel, due to the internal crisis and especially the phenomenon of reluctance, at the height of its weakness and the “resistance camp” led by it at the height of its strength. Tehran, as well as the other components of the resistance camp from Iraq, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon, did not come to the aid of the Islamic Jihad – other than verbal support – and watched from the sidelines as its senior military command received a severe blow during the operation.
Iran pushed the elements of the resistance camp (mainly Hamas) to join the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in firing at Israel. The newspaper “Kihan”, the publication of the leader of Iran, Khamenei even criticized Hamas and stated that “in the absence of rockets more powerful than other The elements of the “Resistance Camp” It seems that the rockets of the Islamic Jihad are only mosquito bites for Israel.” Throughout the operation, Iran called on the Muslim countries, including those that have signed peace agreements with Israel, to provide active assistance to the Palestinians and “prevent the end of Israel”, and not to be satisfied with statements.
The Secretary General of Hezbollah, Nasrallah, promised in a speech to mark seven years since the death of Mustafa Badr al-Din (commander of Hezbollah’s forces in Syria, killed in 2016 near Damascus) promised all possible assistance to the Palestinians, but in practice Hezbollah did not intervene at all in the current round (probably remembers the signal he received in response for launching the rockets from Lebanon in April this year).
Israel, which in recent months has been presented by Iran as weak and as approaching the end of its path in light of the internal crisis (which Tehran continues to echo in its headlines), exacted a heavy price from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in its care, which enjoys a budget of tens of millions of dollars a year and extensive military aid. The Islamic Jihad, in its distress, ultimately preferred the initiative of Egyptian mediation for a ceasefire over Iranian pressure, especially on the organization’s foreign leadership and Secretary General Ziad Al-Nakhallah, to continue fighting.
Iran pressured the Islamic Jihad throughout the campaign right up to the last moment to continue fighting, and a reporter from the Iranian news agency “Tasnim” affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who broadcast from the Gaza Strip during the operation, even stated that the “Islamic Jihad responded to the Egyptian initiative by shooting at Tel Aviv . Iran believed that the continuation of the round and the increase of the distress in Gaza would eventually lead to its expansion and the joining of other elements from the resistance front, a hope that was ultimately disappointed. Iran doesn’t mind continuing to pay with Palestinian blood to advance its goals and expand its influence in the region and portray itself as the main factor leading the struggle against Israel.
The operation, along with the restoration of Israeli deterrence and its image that has been eroded in recent months in the eyes of the moderate Arab states (mainly Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states), proved that Israel, with its intelligence and operational capabilities, still has a central place in the regional confrontation with Iran, which continues to advance its nuclear program. The latter was caught in her weakness and it was illustrated to her and the resistance camp she claims to lead, that her rhetoric about the end of Israel’s battle does not stand the test of reality.
Lt. Col. Michael Segal (photo: Private)
