The Israeli military “badly miscalculated” how Iran would react to the deadly airstrike against its consulate in Syria that killed a top Revolutionary Guard general, US officials claim in a new report.
Americans only learned of Israel’s plan, which was months in the making, to bomb the Iranian complex in Damascus on April 1 just moments before it was carried out, killing Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, among other senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders, according to multiple US officials and a senior Israeli official speaking anonymously to The New York Times.
The Israelis initially did not think Iran would lash out in response to the airstrike, the Times reported.
And even after it became clear that Iran would retaliate, both Israel and the US, its closest ally, reportedly thought that the response would be on a limited scale.
Instead, Teheran on Saturday unleashed an unprecedented barrage of some 350 suicide drones and missiles at the Jewish state, the vast majority of which were shot down by Israel and its allies.
In public, Biden Administration officials expressed their full-throated support for Israel, but privately, they were said to be enraged that Jerusalem would attack Iran without Washington’s input, according to The Times’ reporting.