How Israel Caught Iran Off Guard With Operation Rising Lion: Deception Tactic Decoded
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From a vacation ploy to son's wedding and "tensions with US", over the past few days before Friday's strikes, Israel pushed Iran into inaction with several decoys.
Israel's latest airstrike on Iran once again showed how the Benjamin Netanyahu-led country uses clever planning and deception to protect itself and catch its enemies off guard. Israel launched a major operation — dubbed Operation Rising Lion — striking Iranian military and nuclear infrastructure in Tehran, Natanz, and other strategic sites.
Israeli strikes on Iran on Friday killed Iran's Revolutionary Guards Commander Hossein Salami, local media reported. An Israeli defence official also claimed that the Israeli strikes have 'likely eliminated" Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of the Islamic republic's armed forces, and several senior nuclear scientists.
Israeli forces managed to fool Iran during this recent attack by creating a strategy that tricked Iranian defences and left them mostly ineffective.
According to a senior Israeli official who spoke to The Jerusalem Post, the decoy began on Thursday night. Israel's security cabinet meeting was deliberately labeled as a discussion on hostage negotiations in Gaza. Ministers were told they would discuss stalled efforts to free Israeli captives held by Hamas. 'The aim was to put Iran to sleep," the source told the newspaper.
Once inside the secure meeting, however, the cabinet unanimously approved the Iran strike, a report in The Jerusalem Post stated. All ministers signed a Shomer Sod (Guardian of the Secret) agreement—an NDA that ensured total silence. Only a small circle of officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Mossad chief David Barnea, and senior defence figures were fully briefed on the real objective.
To further lower Iran's alert levels, reports were spread over the media that Netanyahu was planning a family holiday in the Galilee and would be attending his son Avner's wedding next week—giving the appearance that no major military action was imminent.
Then came the diplomatic decoy. Israel announced a trip to Washington for Dermer and Barnea, supposedly to meet a US envoy in a 'sixth round" of Iran nuclear talks in Oman—talks that don't exist. In reality, both men never left Israel.
Netanyahu in fact refused to deny a fabricated leak that described tensions between him and former US President Donald Trump over a potential Iran strike. Israel told the US that it did not deny claims of friction between Washington and Jerusalem, ensuring Iran would be distracted. Iranian intelligence likely picked up on tensions, expecting Israel to hesitate — which Israel intended.
Meanwhile, Channel 12 journalist Amit Segal added an interesting detail – On April 12, Trump had publicly given Iran '60 days to reach a deal." The Israeli strike came exactly on day 61.
Meanwhile, Iran has now launched over 100 drones in the direction of Israel in retaliation.
The Art Of Deception Not New For Israel
This wasn't the first time Israel relied on deception to disorient Iran.
In 2020, top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated in a strike reportedly involving a remote-controlled gun and artificial intelligence —carried out without alerting Iranian security.
In 2018, Mossad agents stole nuclear documents from a secret warehouse in Tehran and smuggled them back to Israel — without Iran realising it had been breached until it was too late.
In 2007, Israeli jets destroyed a Syrian nuclear reactor (believed to be Iranian-backed) in Operation Orchard using radar jamming and low-level flying to escape detection.
The Israel-Iran Conflict
The conflict between Israel and Iran has persisted for decades. Israel considers Iran its most dangerous adversary, primarily due to Tehran's nuclear ambitions, calls for Israel's destruction, and ongoing support for armed groups like Hezbollah and Hamas. Israel fears that a nuclear-capable Iran would fundamentally disrupt the strategic balance in the region and pose an existential threat to the Jewish state.
Conversely, Iran positions itself as a leader in the anti-Israel resistance, frequently using state media and proxy forces to challenge Israel's legitimacy. Iran finances and arms militias in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Gaza that regularly attack Israeli territory.
Historically, both nations have engaged through proxies, cyberattacks, and covert operations. However, the recent shift to open, direct confrontations, including Iran's unprecedented missile strike on Israel in April and Israel's latest bombing of Iranian territory, signifies a dangerous new phase of direct state-on-state warfare with fewer restraints and heightened risks.
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Benjamin Netanyahu Iran-Israel Israel-Iran tensions
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New Delhi, India, India
First Published:
June 13, 2025, 11:05 IST
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