\n
The officials said Israel\u2019s intention was to allow Iran to move on without responding in kind, while signaling that Israel had developed the ability to strike Iran without entering its airspace or even setting off its air defense batteries. Israel also hoped to show that it could hit those batteries in a part of central Iran that houses several major nuclear facilities, including an uranium enrichment site at Natanz, hinting that it could have also reached those facilities if it had tried.<\/p>\n
The Israeli military declined to comment.<\/p>\n
The path to this attack began on April 1, when Israel struck an Iranian embassy complex <\/span>in Damascus, Syria, killing seven Iranian officials, including three senior military leaders. Iran had not retaliated after several similar strikes in the past, leading Israeli officials, they say, to believe that they could continue to mount such attacks without drawing a significant Iranian response.<\/p>\nThis time proved different: Within a week, Iran began privately signaling to neighbors and foreign diplomats that its patience had reached a limit, and that it would respond with a major strike on Israel \u2014 its first ever direct attack on Israeli soil.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
During the week of April 8, Israel began preparing two major military responses, according to the Israeli officials.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
The first was a defensive operation to block the expected Iranian attack, coordinated with the U.S. Central Command \u2014 its top commander, Gen. Michael E. Kurilla, visited Israel that week \u2014 as well as with the British, French and Jordanian militaries.<\/p>\n
The second was a huge offensive operation to be carried out if the Iranian strike materialized. Initially, Israeli intelligence believed that Iran planned to attack with a \u201cswarm\u201d of large drones and up to 10 ballistic missiles, the Israeli officials said. As the week progressed, that estimate grew to 60 missiles, heightening Israeli desire for a strong counterattack.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s military and political leaders began discussing a counterstrike that could begin as soon as Iran began firing the drones \u2014 even before it was known how much damage, if any, they caused. According to one official, the plan was presented to Israel\u2019s war cabinet by the military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, and his Air Force chief, Tomer Bar, early on Friday, April 12 \u2014 two days before Iran\u2019s attack.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s intentions changed after Iran attacked, the officials said. The attack was even bigger than expected: With more than 100 ballistic missiles, 170 drones and some 30 cruise missiles, it was one of the largest barrages of this kind in military history.<\/p>\n
But Israel\u2019s defense, which were coordinated with pilots from the United States, Britain, France and Jordan, took down most of the missiles and drones, and there was only limited damage on the ground, reducing the need for a swift response. And there were questions about whether Israel should risk taking its focus off defense while the assault was still underway, <\/span>two officials said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
The turning point, however, was an early-morning phone call between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Mr. Biden, during which the American president encouraged the Israeli leader to treat the successful defense as a victory that required no further response, according to three Israeli and Western officials, who described those discussions on the condition of anonymity. Mr. Netanyahu emerged from the call opposed to an immediate retaliation, the Israelis said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
The following day, the Israeli government began signaling to foreign allies that it still planned to respond, but only in a contained way that fell far short of what it had previously planned, according to one of the senior Western officials.<\/p>\n
Instead of a broad counterattack that might leave Iran\u2019s leaders believing they had no option but to respond in kind, Israeli officials said, they settled on a plan that they hoped would make a point to Iranian officials without publicly humiliating them.<\/p>\n
They initially planned the attack for Monday night, the Israeli officials said, pulling out at the last minute amid fears that Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia that has been engaged in a low-level conflict with Israel since October, might significantly increase the intensity of its strikes on northern Israel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n