The central goal of the Israeli Air Force's alleged strike on Thursday night was not Iran, but Syria. By striking the runways at Damascus International Airport and suspending flights for hours, Israel may have sought to pressure Syrian President Basher Assad into adopting a more active and assertive position against Iran's use of its territory and infrastructure to continue to smuggle arms to Hezbollah and various other powerful elements inside Syria.
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In this alleged attack, one can identify a certain shift in Israeli policy. While Syrian infrastructure has been targeted in previous strikes, this time the damage appears to have been collateral.
If Syrian anti-aircraft batteries posed a risk to Israeli jets, they were struck, and if Iran or its emissaries acted from Syrian facilities, they were attacked.
Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi said that in recent weeks the military carried out strikes in the double-digits in the region. One can assume a significant number of those were carried out against Iranian activity in the northern arena.
While they certainly rid the Iranians of quite a few abilities and means, they did not change their strategic decision to surround Israel in a ring of fire and through advanced weapons.
In the seven years since it began, the campaign between the wars has recorded quite a few achievements. The intelligence infiltration that allowed for thousands of attacks did serious harm to Iran's intentions of establishing permanent bases and armed militias inside Syria and significantly disrupted the weapons convoys to Hezbollah. On the other hand, it failed to dissuade the Iranians from continuing their efforts.
The aim now, therefore, is to exert further pressure on them not from Israel, but from Syria. To lead Assad to draw the conclusion that the direct price he will pay for Iran's continued activity in his country will be higher than the price he will pay for confronting them.
It is doubtful Assad truly wants to restrict the Iranians. He owes them his life after they came to his defense with the funds and means necessary in his most difficult hour in the Syrian civil war.
Even if Assad was interested in ousting Iran as some in Israel believe, it's unlikely he would succeed. Syria is weak, broken, and rotten from the inside, and Iran is now deeply entrenched in the country.
The Russians, who could assist Assad in this effort, have shown no interest in the issue. They are busy fighting the war in Ukraine and will not confront the Iranians on what they currently regard as a minor issue.
This, as usual, leaves Israel alone in the campaign and demands it return to the drawing table to find new ways of improving and perfecting the campaign between the wars.
In this respect, the fact that a nuclear deal has not been renewed and sanctions remain in place on Iran plays in Israel's favor, allowing it to operate with relative freedom in its efforts to deter Iran and stop its dangerous activity.
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