Israel’s assertive posture across the Middle East over the past year is often portrayed as an unchecked or reckless use of force. In reality, it reflects a fundamental shift in Israel’s security doctrine, forged in the trauma of October 7 and the following attack against it from seven fronts.

Israel is the only state openly threatened with annihilation by a radical axis led by Iran. Yet for decades, Israel relied on deterrence, early warning, defense and containment, assuming severe threats along its borders could be managed and absorbed to preserve quiet. October 7 shattered that logic. Deterrence collapsed when jihadist organizations, deployed on Israel’s borders with large forces, attacked it, willing to die as martyrs while sacrificing tens of thousands of their own population.

The cost of inaction turned out to be unbearable and Israel’s political and security leadership have therefore entered a new strategic era – one defined not by managing dangers but by acting to stop them before they mature. This preemptive doctrine targets existential threats, actors immune to deterrence and border militias capable of striking with close to zero warning time.

The clearest expression of this shift is the war Israel launched against Iran – a state that has long called for Israel’s destruction while building the capabilities to pursue it. When Israel struck Iranian nuclear and missile facilities earlier this year, it did so believing Tehran’s nuclear program had entered a dangerous phase and its long-range missile arsenal was expanding at an alarming pace. A projected stockpile of 8,000 missiles by 2027 would pose an existential danger, especially after Iran’s missile attacks against Israel in unprecedented barrages in........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)