ישראל נגד איראן: מלחמת הצללים

by Yoaz Hendel, Yaakov Katz, יועז הנדל

The shadow war between Israel and Iran has been raging for more than three decades, ever since the Iranian revolution of 1979 ushered in a fundamentalist regime whose sworn enemies have consistently included, first and foremost, Israel and the United States. Israel, especially, has borne the brunt of attacks from Iran’s two most powerful proxies—Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran’s nuclear ambitions raise the stakes immeasurably. Israel vs. Iran evaluates the threat to Israel’s security posed by a nuclear Iran, including competing perceptions of the threat, and analyzes Israel’s military and diplomatic options.

Drawing on in-depth research and invaluable access to the Israeli defense establishment, including interviews with key decision makers, Israeli military correspondent Yaakov Katz and Israeli military historian Yoaz Hendel describe behind-the-scenes Israeli strategic military deliberations and intelligence analysis since the Second Lebanon War of 2006. The authors focus on pivotal military events in this shadow war with Iran, including the Syrian reactor bombing and Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip, as well as assassinations of key Hezbollah operatives, Iranian nuclear scientists, and Syrian officials.

Assassinations, computer viruses, and Western sanctions might not be enough to stop Iran, the authors argue. They outline the choice Israel faces: launch a military strike, which could lead to an all-out regional war, or tacitly accept a nuclear Iran, which would lead to a new balance of power in the Middle East. In 2012 Israel appears closer than ever to making a decision.

Genres: Israel, History, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, Politics

334 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2011

Reviews

[Jakub Dovcik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite an interesting topic, this book is in many parts very repetitive (some paragraphs almost feel like they are copy-pasted around the text), with a lack of critical perspective and depth. Its main problem is that it tries to be "sensational" in portraying some aspects of the Israeli's war against Iran and its proxies - but despite focusing on the really interesting aspects (cyber warfare, espionage, targeted assassinations), it spends tens of pages on changes in IDF military doctrine as a result of the Second Lebanese War. This is also another problem of the book - Hamas and Hisbollah are presented as almost mindless proxies of Iranian puppetmasters which, even theoretically, cannot be fully true.

There are fascinating chapters in the book - about the destruction of the Syrian nuclear reactor, the potential assault on Iranian nuclear facilities, and so on. But unfortunately, they are surrounded by much less fascinating passages full of the official narratives.

[Pardis TD · Rating 1 out of 5]

Arabs vs Jews it has always been, and both British colonies, blaming it on countries that have 0 to do with it, and blatantly ignoring the actual culprits... a schizophrenic vision, fueled by the ignorance and lack of knowledge of human history, and cultures outside of their own. These kinds of unipolar views cement the pathway to the series of conflicts we have experienced so far, sometimes also supported by foreign leaders, that instead of solving conflicts seem to add fuel to the fire. I have hang out with Palestinians, Lebanese, and Israelis and never had issues with them, they seemed to be very knowledgeable, it is just sad that politicians in the past 15 years have been increasingly incompetent, at maintaining some kind of balance. The Iran revolution was an attack on the Iranians for the most part, as was the domination by the British colonialists of Iran oil in the past a hundred years, however, this kind of historical background is completely missing out within the book. I'd never make comments about foreign histories I know nothing about, and I wouldn't spread misinformation in such a way, to increase radical hatred against certain groups. Even if the basis for these views of both Arabs and Jews are pushed by the British colonialists or imperialists and capitalism in general, and why not social-democrats and nationalists, it won't mean that it is not going to backfire on their countries too, and in fact, to date, we see that these "erroneous awareness and fears" have led to them being in conflict, whilst everyone else exploiting resources. It is better in general to learn from other cultures, rather than hate on them, most cultures have positives and negatives, surely, but to hate on specific cultures, is like sowing the seeds for what can come after you too, and nowadays we have antisemitism and islamophobia, which have been exacerbated by the same people these factions supported so far, the British mob. Therefore I am disappointed by this book, as I expected a bit more of historical perspectives, which as I mentioned had heard from many intellectual arabs and jews, but that I do not see at this level, and the expectation is really high when it comes to politics, as politicians should have a higher level of intellect than scientists, physicians and so on, which I don't see.

[Bardhyl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reads like Fauda. Very entertaining.

[Michael Boling · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is no secret regarding the existence of hostilities between Israel and Iran. While overt war between the two nations as not yet taken place, a shadow war clearly exists with Iran utilizing a number of fronts to include terrorist proxy groups to extend its reach as part of Iran’s continued and established plan to eliminate the nation of Israel.

Yaakov Katz and Yoav Hendel have written a fascinating book aptly titled Israel vs. Iran: The Shadow War in which they outline using their combined years of knowledge as well as first hand interviews and a plethora of information from both Western and Israeli governmental, military and media sources. The overarching purpose of this book is to reveal the tactics used by Iran both directly and through their proxies as well as to demonstrate the responses and governmental policies by Israel.

Essentially, Israel is in a constant state of war. While not always in a declared war status, they have to remain constantly vigilant given the persistent tactics used by Iran to destabilize the region, most notably using Hamas and Hezbollah as the northern and southern fronts of their overall strategy against Israel. The battle takes place through covert means such as the aforementioned terrorist groups establishing footholds in key border areas as well as the often used tunneling and smuggling tactics in an effort to move large caches of weapons into Lebanon and Gaza, weapons supplied eagerly by Iran.

Katz and Hendel walk the reader though the history of this struggle, focusing specifically on events from the period of 2007 to 2012 at which this book was published. They also take a look back in time to how the Israeli military, through a variety of successes and notable failures, has adjusted their military engagement of these terrorist organizations.

Recognizing the need to alter their training methodology following some military failures, the Israeli military embarked on an urgent and focused evaluation of its training procedures, most notably its use and approach to training its reserve units. Katz and Hendel discuss in great detail the vast improvements made and the different approaches and methodologies implemented by Israel’s military leaders in recognition of past failures and in response to the ever increasing methods taken by her enemies to obtain more advanced weaponry.

Perhaps the most interesting element of this book was the description of a number of key military events and covert operations undertaken by Israel. For instance, the focused effort to sabotage Syria’s nuclear reactor and the events leading to the bombing of the nuclear compound. Also of interest was the in-depth description of Mossad’s shadow war and their efforts, along with assistance from the CIA, to take out important terrorist leaders. Furthermore, Katz and Hendel note the continued struggle Israel has in dealing with Hamas and Hezbollah, both in counteracting their efforts to obtain weapons that reach deeper into Israeli territory while trying to ensure they limit civilian causalities so as to not come under the harsh scrutiny of world opinion. This is not an easy line to walk and the intelligence needed to ensure accurate assessments before attacking and engaging, either on land or at sea is paramount. It was interesting to read the means by which Israel has at their disposal to include advanced intelligence techniques. With that said, despite those advanced methodologies, they run the risk of error and increasing the ever present hostilities.

This is a highly informative book and its authors describe in great detail the war that exists between Israel and Iran. Hell bent on Israel’s destruction, Iran continues to use all means at its disposal, most notably terrorist proxies, to achieve its grand designs. Israel is well equipped to respond and has used both her successes and failures to develop a well-rounded strategy for keeping the terrorists and their supporters at bay. It is a constant struggle fraught with potential pitfalls. Katz and Hendel have done an excellent job of providing valuable and interesting information for the reader to have a great deal of insight into the particulars of this struggle. If you are a student of history, especially when it comes to topics such as the Middle East, Israel, Iran, and terrorism, you will find this book to be a worthy read.

I received this book for free from University of Nebraska Press and the opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating book primarily covering Iran's backing of terrorist organizations around the world. With only the real backing of the United States, little Israel constantly faces existential challenges by many of its neighbors. While peace treaties have been signed over the years, many are not enforced. Rockets are fired into residential areas in Northern Israel from Syria, rockets fired into Southern and Central Israel from Gaza and the Sinai.

Where do the attackers receive their deadly supplies? The evidence brought together in this scary book points to Iran. Alliances forged between Iran, North Korea and Syria (termed the axis of evil by President George Bush), work together to supply terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East with arms and other munitions. Terrorist training facilities in Iran work daily to teach those they can reach how to use weapons and become martyrs for the cause.

North Korea supplies advanced weapons systems and nuclear materials to Iran. Iran uses its oil money to buy more munitions and export terror.

Sanctions are demonstrated to be an inadequate solution to the problem. Israel and the United States, and the world, are left with a serious choice - allow Iran to go Nuclear, or attack resulting in all of those trained by Iran to retaliate. There is no obvious solution or magic bullet. Yaakov Katz does a great job of painting a no win situation where one possible outcome is no better than another.

[K C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fair analysis of the current shadow war between Israel and Iran and the pitfalls to escalation. No conclusions reached and my basic reaction is Israel is caught between a rock and a hard place. Certain war if they try to take out Iran's nuclear weapons capacity - which would be a much more extensive strike than it had for Syria's or Iraq's; nasty, shadowy defensive war and terroists with dirty bombs all over the world if they don't. Does not make for an easy decision.

[Avi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A descent and broad compilation, though it fails to offer viable solutions to the threat.