Why did Bennett announce this now? Mossad operations are almost never officially made public; their preferred way of shedding light is to leak to foreign press outlets. And when the government does reveal what the Mossad does, it’s usually long after the fact, not a few weeks later.
Why did Bennett share so little information? Presumably, there are constantly Mossad operations going on that we know nothing about. What was the point of telling the public about this operation if he couldn’t tell us anything about it, other than it was “a complex, wide-ranging and daring operation?”
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The hot take was that he was making political use of the Mossad. After all, he made his announcement in a contentious and raucous Knesset meeting, marking the opening of the legislature’s winter session, with a large media presence. Perhaps Bennett was trying to wrest the media narrative away from opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who, as expected, used his speech to sharply criticize the government.
That is still a compelling explanation. But another answer may be found in another announcement made by the Prime Minister’s Office, about four hours earlier.
rime Minister Naftali Bennett meets today (Tuesday) with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus, Nikos Christodolids, at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, July 27, 2021 (credit: KOBI GIDEON/GPO)
In fact, the attack was not specifically targeting Sagi, Sidi said; rather, the Iranian-hired hit man arrested in Cyprus was trying to attack Israeli businessmen, generally.
When Sidi sent out his message, it seemed unusual, but was easily chalked up to the shadow war between Israel and Iran, as well as the importance in highlighting to the world that Iran is a bad actor seeking to annihilate Israel.
Various outlets reported that the attempted murder of Sagi and others was an Iranian revenge mission; some tied it to the Mossad killing Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the leader of Iran’s nuclear program, late last year.
But new details emerging about the Arad-related operation could mean that the two matters are related.
Rai al-Youm speculated that the Iranian operation in Cyprus was retaliation for the kidnapping of the general.
Although Iran has never needed a reason to attack Israelis, it is a distinct possibility that the kidnapping was the impetus.
Bennett and his office have been reticent to reveal more about the operation to garner details about Arad, other than to insist that it was not a failure, though defense sources say no information was actually found.
The mysterious announcement could have been a way to get ahead of the news cycle of details of the Mossad operation that could have been revealed by local or foreign press following the trail of the attempt to kill Sagi.
