Why Israel didn’t hit Iran where it would really hurt

In Christian countries, it’s typical to put things off until ‘after Christmas’ when the new year begins. In Israel, the equivalent is ‘after the festivals’. The Jewish autumn festivals begin with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year followed by Yom Kippur and the eight-day festival of Tabernacles, Sukkot.

This year, Israelis cowered in their bomb shelters on 1 October, the day before Rosh Hashanah, when 180 Iranian ballistic missiles rained down on the country. The long-threatened strike, supposedly in retaliation for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, was mostly foiled by Israel’s Arrow missile defence shield, with the help of the US, UK and France intercepting missiles. But dozens of missiles found their targets, damaging Israeli air bases and a school. 

An Israeli military response was inevitable. After a similar attack in April, Israel restricted its response to a symbolic hit on Iranian air defences, destroying a costly S-300 system but causing no broader damage.