Israel has granted its automated targeting systems a level of autonomy in generating strike options that exceeds anything the United States has permitted its own commanders, according to a European general with direct knowledge of both countries' operations.
As "Hvylya" reports, citing The Economist, the general said Israel "has given more autonomy to decision-support systems to generate targets than I would ever have been given." The gap became apparent during joint preparations for the Iran campaign, when American war planners were astonished by the scale and readiness of Israel's contribution.
Israeli counterparts arrived with a pre-built "target bank" containing thousands of Iranian targets, each already matched with the appropriate munitions. The database included headquarters and homes of Iranian leaders, military and militia bases, missile launchers, factories and civilian infrastructure. One Israeli officer described the entire system as having been "industrialized." The scope of the joint four-year preparation helps explain how such a database was assembled.
The roots of this approach trace back decades, through the Yom Kippur War of 1973, a decisive campaign against Syrian air defenses in 1982, and a pivotal failure during the 2006 Lebanon War, when Israeli generals ran out of targets to strike. The intelligence chief at the time, Amos Yadlin, responded by expanding data-fusion methods to cover all potential targets - a system that eventually gave the IDF chief of staff a bound copy of Hamas targets, enabling retaliatory strikes within minutes of a rocket launch.
An Israeli source offered a more nuanced view of the autonomy question. "AI can make a good intelligence officer better and help make sure there's less collateral damage," the source said. "But if the intelligence officer is just trying to come up with more targets and cares less about who gets hurt, AI will help generate those targets." The history of air campaigns forcing regime change suggests that more targets do not necessarily translate into strategic success.
Also read: Israel's Defense Minister: Iranian Leadership Hiding in Tunnels Like Hamas.