The myth of Israel’s invincibility, owing to its missile defense system known as the Iron Dome and American President Joe Biden’s 'ironclad' pledge to support Israel was put to the test when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, and when Iran retaliated against the Jewish state’s strike on its consulate in Damascus by firing drones, ballistic and cruise missiles on April 14. Both the Iron Dome and the ‘iron clad’ support, however, failed to guarantee Israel’s security and save it from external attacks, preventing albeit large-scale physical and material damage.

Israel’s massive retaliation in the aftermath of Hamas’s October 7 attacks has led to 33,500 Palestinian deaths, thousands injured and millions displaced, but Iran’s retaliation against Israel’s April 1 attack on its Damascus consulate, which killed 6 people including two generals of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), led to meager damage to the Jewish state.

Iran’s deterrence against Israel proved to be a myth, which was repulsed by the Iron Dome and assistance from its allies United States and France, which ensured the Iranian attack was unable to cause any significant material and physical damage.

Iran had warned Israel of retaliation to avenge the April 1 destruction of its consulate in Damascus, but the manner in which Tehran conducted its drone and missile attacks against the Jewish state was tantamount to a strategic failure. Barring air raid sirens and the fear which gripped Israel when Iranian missiles reached its airspace along with missiles from Yemen, Lebanon and Syria, more than 99% of the drones and missiles were destroyed by Israel’s Iron Dome.’

Was it wise on the part of Iran to fire hundreds of missiles and drones against Israel, passing through the airspace of Iraq, Jordan and Syria - taking several hours to reach their destination or should it have launched an attack based on precision targeting, going after military officials of the Jewish state? In order to mitigate the ramifications of its attack against Israel and prevent massive retaliation, Iran came up with a statement that it has achieved its objectives, and Israel need........

© The Friday Times