The Israeli attack on Iran, which sparked an all-out war between the two countries, was meant to delay Iran's plans by two to three years. Its main goal was to delay the Iranians from swiftly obtaining the ability to develop a complete nuclear weapon, from increasing the number of ballistic missiles in their arsenal to around 8,000 in the next two years and from making progress toward implementing a major attack on Israel, which Israelis have dubbed the Iranian "plan of annihilation."

As the military confrontation between Iran and Israel intensifies, what is Israel’s real endgame?

This war had been brewing for two decades — long anticipated but repeatedly avoided. Both the Iranian and Israeli sides had succeeded in avoiding direct confrontation, limiting…