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Israel's Information Campaigns: An Alternative to Kinetic Strikes


(BESA Center for Strategic Studies-Bar-Ilan University) Yaakov Lappin - 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 kinetic strikes. In recent months, the Israeli defense establishment has made increasing use of such campaigns. Making enemy decision-makers feel vulnerable to Israel's intelligence capabilities boosts Israeli deterrence and pushes back the prospect of the outbreak of a new full-scale war. However, information campaigns appear to be most effective when they complement kinetic strikes. In September 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly about multiple underground sites in Lebanon that were to be used for converting unguided rockets into guided missiles. Three months after these warnings, in December, Netanyahu said that Hizbullah had shut down these conversion centers. The writer is a research associate at the BESA Center.
2019-04-18 00:00:00
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