Israel’s Info War as Important as Military War

Stand for Israel  |  May 14, 2019

While the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stand guard against any and all threats to Israel, their actions involve much more than just direct warfare. Writing at the Algemeiner, the ever-informative Yaakov Lappin tells us that just as effective as actual strikes is Israel’s campaign to disseminate information about her terrorist enemies’ activities to the world via the media, as well as warning said enemies that their activities are well-known and won’t be tolerated:

In recent months, the Israeli defense establishment has made increasing use of “information campaigns,” or exposure through the media of enemy activity that has been detected by Israeli intelligence. This modus operandi has developed into an alternative to kinetic strikes.

Information campaigns, which involve the revelation through the media of enemy activity, allow military decision-makers to utilize sensitive intelligence to disrupt enemy build-up processes and attack plans without the associated risk of escalation that comes with armed strikes.

Information campaigns tell the enemy that their activities have been exposed, and warns them to cease them if they wish to avoid military strikes. It also applies pressure on international actors, such as states from which non-state actors operate, and global power actors that are keen to avoid armed conflict in their areas of influence.

As such, information campaigns have become a key part of Israel’s “War Between Wars” — the low-profile IDF campaign against Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and others in the northern and southern arenas.

The War Between Wars has twin goals: to disrupt enemy force build-up, and to make enemy decision-makers feel vulnerable to Israel’s intelligence capabilities. This boosts Israeli deterrence and pushes back the prospect of the outbreak of a new full-scale war…