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Daily Briefing Apr. 18: Day 195 – Did Israel miss its moment to hit back at Iran?

Editor David Horovitz weighs in on reports accusing Israel of miscalculating strike on IRGC generals, a US-offered compromise on Rafah operation and a UN resolution condemning Iran

By ToI Staff 18 April 2024, 1:42 pm Edit

Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

It is day 195 of the war with Hamas. Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today’s episode in the Jerusalem office.

The United States led a group of 48 countries at the United Nations in condemning Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel last weekend. Horovitz weighs in.

Egyptian officials tell a Qatari outlet that the US has accepted Israel’s plan for an operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, in return for Israel not carrying out a large strike in Iran in response to its unprecedented missile and drone attack. Horovitz, who doubts the veracity of that report, nonetheless postulates that Israel may have missed its best moment for retaliation for the Iranian strike.

The New York Times is reporting that “multiple American officials” think that Israeli officials miscalculated the severity of Iran’s response to the April 1 strike on a building in Damascus in which several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders were killed. Based on previous targeted killings of key Iranian players, should Israel have anticipated Iran’s large-scale, potentially devastating strike?

Horovitz conducted an interview with Giora Eiland, a former IDF planning and operations chief and the former head of the National Security Council under prime minister Ariel Sharon. We hear highlights of their discussion.

For the latest updates, please see The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.