In a column published Sunday morning, senior journalist Amit Segal (N12) argues that Prime Minister Netanyahu's decision on June 7 — to launch broad strikes on Iran rather than insist on a military operation to seize enriched uranium — was the campaign's main strategic shortcoming. Segal quotes two security officials (one current, one former) saying an operation to confiscate nuclear material was feasible and Israel should have pushed harder for it.
Columnist Amit Segal (N12) published a lengthy analysis on Sunday morning titled 'Not October 7 — June 7,' arguing that the date marks the moment when Israel's strategic posture toward Iran may have taken a wrong turn. He describes a sequence in which Iran launched missiles, President Trump demanded no retaliation and backed the demand with calls, interviews, and tweets — and then came 'the phone call' in which Netanyahu told Trump 'a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do,' and the planes flew east.
Segal writes that until April, Netanyahu enjoyed a massive advantage over rivals regarding the Trump relationship. The achievements of 'Roar of the Lion' (the June campaign) were consensus, and near-unanimous support accompanied the first weeks. When a ceasefire was announced — against Israel's stated position — the advantage evaporated. The blood price in southern Lebanon, the return of emergency status in the north, and growing Iranian audacity threatened to flip that asset into a liability. Opposition leaders hammer Netanyahu repeatedly on lack of strategy.
The columnist then poses the core counterargument: is anyone seriously suggesting Netanyahu should have told the U.S. president 'no thanks' to joint action against Iran? To forfeit the destruction of $300 billion in Iranian assets, including most military assets, nuclear facilities, and missile plants? He notes skepticism also belongs to those who now demand the Dahieh be leveled at all costs, especially coming from figures who urged stopping the Gaza war and obeying every American dictate.
Segal identifies one genuine junction where Israel could and should have acted differently: the choice of the main target of the last operation. Israel went to war after war to stop Iran's nuclearization; regime collapse was only a welcome byproduct. 'We should have insisted much more,' two security officials — one former, one current — told him this week, 'on a military operation to confiscate the enriched uranium. It was possible.' Instead, the campaign scattered into destructive and wide-ranging strikes that do not bring total victory. Moreover, because Israel waited for authorization for such an operation, it refrained from other actions that would have harmed the nuclear program. The war thus ended with the elimination of several more nuclear scientists — important but not game-changing — without the one huge irreversible achievement.
Segal closes by asking whether it is too late. Operationally, no. The obstacle was and remains the Republican post-traumatic aversion to boots on the ground. But the impossible limbo in which the president finds himself — between a justified refusal of any deal that includes sanctions removal and billions in payment, and an understandable reluctance to renew fighting — could lead him to say that a uranium-seizure operation is approved.
As The Zioneer previously reported, Trump publicly issued a military ultimatum on Iran (June 8, article), stated in an NBC interview that military action would follow if no nuclear deal is reached (June 7), and concluded a high-stakes call with Netanyahu as Iran threatened a 'new level of fire' (June 7, 22:59 Jerusalem). The column represents the most detailed Israeli analytical critique yet of the strategic choice at the heart of the recent campaign. Segal's sources spoke on condition of anonymity; their identities are not disclosed beyond their professional roles.
- DevelopingGallant: Netanyahu's weakness in Beirut cost Israel dearly; missed chance to dismantle Iran's nuclear program
- DevelopingAmit Segal (N12) argues Israel achieved everything in Iran except the decisive blow
- DevelopingReservist Brig. Gen. Solomon: Netanyahu is already planning his next step after Iran response
- DevelopingGallant: Israel and US had capability to seize Iran's enriched uranium by force
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