🧵10 DAYS TO WIN A WAR: In September 2024, PM Netanyahu made 2 decisions that decided the war with Hezbollah within 10 days – the pager operation (9/17), and the assassination of Nasrallah (9/27).
In both cases, Bibi clearly stood up to then DM Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Halevi, who opposed him on executing both of the operations. Here is the story behind the scenes of those dramatic 10 days 👇
In both cases, Bibi clearly stood up to then DM Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Halevi, who opposed him on executing both of the operations. Here is the story behind the scenes of those dramatic 10 days 👇
On September 12, 2024, PM Netanyahu kicked off what would be a historical month when he made the decision to start moving IDF divisions from Gaza to the Northern theater.
Three days later on September 15th, Mossad Chief Dadi Barnea woke up Bibi at 0100 (1AM) to inform him that Israel had a problem. Barnea told Bibi that the 10-year pager operation was in danger of being discovered.
Bibi immediately demanded an urgent discussion and the next day, on September 16th, the discussion took place – it was long and lasted many hours. Everyone in the room except Barnea opposed activating the pagers.
The opponents were led by then DM Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Halevi. Bibi received various arguments; “the war is not supposed to start like this”, “this will drag Iran into the war”, and “this will enflame a massive regional war that Israel won’t be able to handle.”
Despite the objections, Bibi accepted the decision to carry out the operation – he understood that it would be an operation that would not only physically harm Hezbollah operatives, but also cause intense feeling of penetration, demoralization, and have a dramatic effect on Nasrallah (who we later learned saw people’s pagers exploding in front of him).
When Nasrallah spoke two days later, broken, in his last speech, about Israel's technological superiority, eight days before he was eliminated, Bibi knew that he had made the right choice.
On September 26th, before his flight to the UN General Assembly in NYC, Bibi held another urgent discussion – this time about an operational opportunity to eliminate the man at the center of it all, Hassan Nasrallah.
During this discussion, the opposition to the operation was even more extreme. Gallant and Halevi claimed that "American approval" was needed, knowing full well that the Americans would never approve the operation for fear that the Iranians would respond.
The rest is history, Bibi approved the strike, Nasrallah fell for the trap and was killed, and Hezbollah was shattered before the war even really began - visionary leadership that goes almost completely ignored and unappreciated.
Many of these details come courtesy of @YinonMagal of Channel 14 🙏
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
