Ex-Navy Chief: ‘We Overestimated Iran’—Israel’s 12-Day War Was a Strategic Victory

In a candid interview earlier today, Maj. Gen. (res.) Eliezer Marom, former Israeli Navy commander, lauded the success of Operation Am K’Lavie, the 12-day campaign that crippled Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities. Marom attributed Israel’s victory to its technological edge, strategic courage, and underestimation of enemies like Iran and Hezbollah.

“I completely agree that we overestimated not only Iran, but also Hezbollah,” Marom stated. “We took the intelligence assessment, analyzed it, and always forgot that Israel also has an offensive capability.” He cited Hezbollah’s touted 160,000 rockets, explaining, “When we say Hezbollah will launch 3,000 rockets a day, it sounds terrifying. But we have significant power and excellent intelligence, we strike missile bases and launchers, reducing the impact of those 3,000 rockets to nearly nothing.”

Marom highlighted the operation’s evolution: “This war, in an evolutionary way, gave us increasing courage as we progressed, and in the end, we had enough courage to strike in Iran.” He credited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the decisive call, adding, “There was no choice. What do you want, to leave us exposed to 500 to 1,000 ballistic missiles? Even if we intercept 70-80 percent, dozens still fall. We’ve seen what those missiles can do.”

Dismissing regrets over halting the campaign, Marom said, “Let’s look at what we’ve achieved in these twelve days, I don’t think any of us could have imagined the scale of the achievement. It is enormous.” He underscored Israel’s air superiority, noting, “After the October 2024 strikes, we had near-total control of the skies because we destroyed all of their anti-aircraft batteries.” Marom also praised Israel’s advanced weaponry, stating, “We use mostly Western and American weapons, along with some Israeli systems, significantly superior to anything the Iranians could get from the Russians.”

Marom described the operation as “the first networked war,” explaining, “A UAV hovers over Tehran, spots a launcher, feeds it into a command system, and everyone sees the same image in seconds. This should make everyone understand the level of achievement.” He concluded, “The technology we use compared to theirs is like heaven and earth. The difference is in intelligence, personnel quality, motivation, everything combined.” The operation, bolstered by U.S. support and global legitimacy, cemented Israel’s status as a formidable military power.