In the first few hours of the attacks, Israel incapacitated a regime dedicated to its destruction. The Mossad intelligence agency and commando forces, deploying on the ground and with local networks,

Critics feared it would plunge the Middle East into a wider war. That doomsday scenario has not come to pass, at least for now: Iran made only symbolic retaliation against America; soon after, a ceasefire ended the fighting between Iran and Israel.