Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s doctrine of overwhelming retaliation was put into stark action as Israel hit Houthi targets in Yemen far harder than it had been attacked. The punishing airstrikes on Sanaa were a textbook execution of the principle of disproportionate response.
The Houthi provocation was a single ballistic missile, albeit one armed with a dangerous cluster bomb. Israel’s response was a multi-target aerial campaign involving numerous aircraft and precision munitions, aimed at causing systemic damage to the Houthi regime.
Netanyahu had long promised a “very heavy price,” and the strikes on the presidential compound, fuel depots, and power stations were the fulfillment of that promise. The goal is to make the cost of attacking Israel so high that it becomes an unthinkable course of action for its enemies.
The result of this doctrine was seen in the casualty figures from Sanaa—six dead and 86 wounded. It is a brutal but, in the view of Israeli leadership, necessary strategy for survival in a hostile region.