Israel focused too intensely on Iran's nuclear threat at expense of ballistic threat: IDF
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israel focused too intensely on the Iranian nuclear threat at the expense of its ballistic threat.
A senior U.S. official told ABC News the U.S. also relied too heavily on the misguided conception that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was cautious and would never order a direct attack on Israel, and that this weekend’s attack and the general U.S. assessment of Iran now requires study and reassessment.
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Sima Shine, a former head of the Iran desk at Israeli espionage agency Mossad, also said Israel’s assessment was wrong, and said "the rules of the game" have changed. A huge barrage of missiles was considered possible, but highly unlikely, Shine said.
Shine said any Israeli response under the new conception requires the assumption that Iran will follow up with its threat of another salvo of missiles. That said, Shine believes that Iran and the supreme leader do not want a full-scale war because it would be unpopular in Iran and the U.S. could get involved.
-ABC News’ Matt Gutman