Three years ago this fall, Hamas’ massacre in southern Israel exposed how far Israeli deterrence had eroded. Only months before the attack, Hezbollah pitched military tents on the Israeli side of the border near Mount Dov. Israel’s own national security adviser called the move “childish,” yet for weeks the tents stood. Removing them risked a wider war Israel wasn’t ready to fight, so Jerusalem absorbed the provocation instead. That restraint, understandable at the time, was itself a symptom of the problem: Iran and its proxies had learned that Israel could be provoked and would not always respond.

Compare that to what happened in Lebanon this month. Israeli forces located, besieged and destroyed Hezbollah’s main underground command complex beneath the Ali al-Taher ridge in the south, a fortress the organization had spent years building. Iran, which fought a direct war against Israel just months earlier and still possesses the arsenal to make good on threats, warned Washington over the strike and then did nothing. No missiles. No proxy escalation. A regime that went to war with Israel this year chose to swallow the loss of one of Hezbollah’s most........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)