The National Security Toolkit of the Israeli–Iranian „Shadow War”

Abstract

The Islamic Republic of Iran has entered ever more intensely into a proxy-war with the State of Israel since its inception in 1979. The two countries’ antagonistic relations
have not manifested yet in conventional warfare, but they are waging a shadow war in many other forms. The Israeli–Iranian proxy war is being waged ever more increasingly in cyberspace, national security methods and rocket strikes. The study presents the regional and global context of the Israeli–Iranian clash, with an emphasis on the Middle Eastern balance of power. It discusses the Israel offensive defensive military strategy which guides the Jewish state’s strategy against Iran and the utilisation of national security methods. From the theoretical aspect, the study presents as case studies the two main areas of the conflict, the strikes against Iranian assets and forces in the Syrian front and the cyber and clandestine strikes against the Iranian nuclear programme.