Two years later: The operation that made Trump tip his hat to Israel

Two years after the pager operation, an interview with Shimon Rafaely, deputy head of the Institute for Security Policy at the Bitanistim movement, revisits September 17, 2024. The operation broke the attrition equation against Hezbollah, returned the initiative to Israel in the north, and led to a chain of assassinations, including the elimination of Nasrallah. Rafaely emphasizes the psychological damage to the organization and the impact on the regional landscape, including the collapse of the Assad regime.

Two years after the pager operation, an extensive interview with Shimon Rafaely, deputy head of the Institute for Security Policy at the Bitanistim movement and former political aide to Ron Dermer, revisits September 17, 2024. Rafaely describes how the operation broke the attrition equation against Hezbollah, which had held for nearly a year since October 7, 2023, and returned the initiative to Israel in the north. He emphasizes that the damage was not only physical but primarily psychological and organizational, as Hezbollah discovered that its communication systems and personal devices were exposed to Israeli intelligence. The operation led to a chain of assassinations, including the elimination of Ibrahim Aqil on September 20 and Hassan Nasrallah on September 27, and ultimately to a ceasefire in November 2024. Rafaely argues that the operation also contributed to the collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024, as Hezbollah, a pillar of the regime, was busy rebuilding itself. He concludes that the key lesson is that superior intelligence is worthless without the willingness to use it, and that Israel must maintain the initiative.