By Jalen Jenkins –
The recent boiling over of Iran and Israel’s proxy war reveals the balance of power lies in favor of Israel. But the display of military superiority also intimates that God helped Israel.
Taking revenge for a strike against its embassy in Syria, Iran on April 13 launched over 300 drones and missiles at Israel. It intended to overwhelm Israel’s detection and interception system with mass numbers, but instead its failure rate was almost 100%.
“Iran basically threw everything it had that could reach Israel’s territory,” said John Krzyzaniak, a researcher who studies Iran’s missile programs at the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, as quoted in the Wall Street Journal. The Economist called the attack “a flop.”
In retaliation to first-ever direct attack on its soil from Iran, Israel fired a limited number of missiles at Iran and took out a sophisticated and expensive radar system near Iran’s nuclear base in Isfahan, in central Iran.
The message sent to Iran was clear: You failed with a massive attack. We succeeded with a very limited and restrained attack. Do it again, and a larger fusillade might take out your nuclear facilities entirely.
An Israeli military spokesman touted their counterattack, but analysts cautioned that other factors may have played into it.
“Israel may have gotten lucky and Iran may have gotten very unlucky,” said Tom Karako, the director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. And that is the hint that God helped Israel. How much was “luck” and how much was God?
Israel has faced Arab and Muslim hostility since it was rebirthed in 1948 under United Nations decree. Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 surprise attack killing 1,130 in Israel is the eighteenth military conflagration aimed at decimating the Jewish population in its homeland.
As part of the latest flareup, Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters in Syria fired artillery into northern Israel. To neutralize this front, Israel bombed an Iranian embassy, reportedly killing seven Iranian advisers.
That’s what caused Iran to hurl hundreds of suicide drones and Cruise and ballistic missiles at Israel days later. Most of the drones and missiles were shot down. U.S. jets joined the fight to intercept the drones before they reached Israel.
Only a handful of missiles exploded in Israeli territory, none of them close enough to a valuable target to make a difference. There were no fatalities. At least one of the missiles struck near an Israeli airport, and an Israeli Bedouin girl was injured.
On April 19 Israel responded to the attack on its soil with airstrikes directly in Iran. Isfahan in central Iran is where the rogue regime has its drone manufacturing facilities, an air force base and a nuclear plant.
No major damage was reported. Many observers believe the mission was to warn Iran not to mess with Israel and to NOT spark and all-out regional war.
Israel’s air defense system consists of several layers. The vaunted Iron Dome system detects and destroys short range rockets like those sent regularly from Gaza. A lesser-known David’s Sling system intercepts mid-range missiles such as the ones fired from Syria. And the Arrow 3 hypersonic missile destroys long range attacks outside of Earth’s atmosphere, as those from Iran.
British and American fighters helped Israel knock down about half of the drones, which are the same used by Russia to cause extensive damage in Ukraine. Not a single drone reached Israel’s air space.
Iran has not yet retaliated for Israel’s exploits in Isfahan – and it may not. Its staunch ally, Russia, condemned Iran’s aggression. Iranian officials “downplayed, dismissed and even mocked that anything of consequence happened at all,” the BBC reported, probably a posture to save face in its own nation.
But the Islamic Republic may be biding time to recalibrate its strategies and improve its technology. As with rocket launch testing, when it fails, scientists analyze the data to upgrade and troubleshoot systems.
Also, the drone strike was designed to overwhelm detection systems. But because the drones are slow-flying, early detection alerted Israelis to be ready for the speedy missiles coming afterward. Next time, Iran may launch the missiles without the drones.
President Joe Biden has declared an “iron-clad” commitment to the defense of Israel. It was the U.S. that knew through its intelligence that Iran’s attack was imminent.
For the moment, the world is breathing a sigh of relief as a full-scale escalation seems to have been averted by Israel’s restrained, calculated retaliation.
After decades of facing Muslim hostilities, Israel has shown a knack for outwitting opponents and beating them on the field of battle. It’s a credit to the Israeli Defense Forces and to the God of Israel.
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About the writer of this article: Jalen Jenkins lives in Burbank (Los Angeles) and studies at the Lighthouse Christian Academy.
