TEHRAN - For eight decades, Israel has orchestrated false flag operations—covert maneuvers disguised as enemy attacks—to manipulate global powers, ignite conflicts, and demonize adversaries. 

This entrenched doctrine of deception, rooted in strategic calculus, exploits chaos to advance geopolitical goals, as evidenced by declassified records, intelligence leaks, and international probes.

From sabotaging civilian targets to fabricating digital evidence, Israel’s tactics reveal a sophisticated playbook that undermines trust and escalates tensions. 

Though historically effective, such operations are yielding diminishing returns in the face of enhanced counterintelligence measures and increased global scrutiny.
 
Early foundations: Sabotage and statecraft

In its formative years, Israel established a template for covert operations that relied on disguise, misdirection, and chaos. A notable example is Operation Susannah (1954), where Israeli military intelligence recruited Egyptian Jews to bomb U.S., British, and Egyptian civilian targets, including libraries, cinemas, and post offices.

The attacks were designed to frame the Muslim Brotherhood and communist groups, destabilize Egypt, and prolong British occupation of the Suez Canal. Premature detonations led to the capture of 11 operatives, with two executed, two dying by suicide, and others imprisoned.

Israel denied involvement for 51 years, only acknowledging and honoring survivors in 2005. Similarly, pre-state Zionist groups like the Irgun executed the King David Hotel bombing (1946), killing 91 British officials by disguising themselves as Arabs to accelerate Britain’s withdrawal from Palestine.

Another operation, the SS Patria bombing (1940), saw Zionist paramilitaries sink a ship carrying Jewish refugees, killing 267, to thwart British deportation plans. These early operations set a precedent for using deception to achieve strategic goals.

Cold War deceptions: Nuclear ambiguity and allied betrayal

During the Cold War, Israel refined its covert tactics by adopting deception ploys to secure strategic advantages. The Dimona nuclear reactor program in the 1960s exemplifies this approach. With French assistance, Israel secretly developed nuclear capabilities while misleading U.S. inspectors through fake facilities, restricted access to plutonium-processing sites, and disguising the reactor as a "textile plant."

This allowed Israel to build an unacknowledged nuclear arsenal, leveraging ambiguity for regional dominance. Another controversial incident was the USS Liberty attack (1967) during the Six-Day War, where Israeli forces deliberately bombed a U.S. intelligence ship, killing 34 Americans.

Survivors and intercepted communications confirmed the attack was intentional, aimed at preventing U.S. monitoring of Israeli military actions, though Israel claimed it was a case of mistaken identity—a narrative still contested today.

Modern tactics: Cyber warfare and proxy manipulation

Israel’s false flag operations have evolved with technology, incorporating cyber tactics and sophisticated disinformation campaigns. Between 2007 and 2008, Mossad agents posed as CIA officers, offering U.S. passports and cash to recruit Pakistan-based Jundallah militants for attacks in Iran.

In 2025, Iranian intelligence uncovered an Israeli plot on U.S. soil, designed to implicate Iran and provoke a U.S.-Iran war through fabricated evidence. Iran’s timely alert to U.S. authorities thwarted the operation. 

In Syria, Israel exploited sectarian tensions through coordinated disinformation campaigns in 2025, spreading false narratives, such as fabricated executions, to incite violence against minorities and destabilize the region. These operations reflect a shift toward hybrid warfare, blending physical sabotage with digital manipulation.

From physical sabotage to hybrid warfare: The evolution of Israel’s tactics

For long years, Israel has used false flag operations as a strategic means to coerce allies and isolate domestic opponents to gain political support. These provocations are to induce action or assistance by other powers against alleged threats to Israeli interests.

Examples of this include the 1967 attack on the USS Liberty and the 2025 plot on U.S. soil. The operations are conducted against adversaries, such as Iran, Egypt, or Syria, to justify sanctions or strikes, operating from a narrative that is coherent and acceptable to domestic audiences.

Historically, these were actual acts of sabotage, such as the 1954 Lavon Affair, and so forth, but now they have morphed into hybrid warfare, digital fabrication of evidence, impersonation or otherwise.

For example, Mossad may use CIA officers as third-party actors to obfuscate direct action with help from third-party actors in ways consistent with deniability.

And yet, the doctrine of deception carries great risks. Incidents like the attack on USS Liberty have put a huge strain on the alliance with Israel, especially with the United States, gradually eroding the trust. Violations of international law through such attacks on civilian infrastructure have grave humanitarian consequences. For instance, dropping bombs on Iranian hospitals in June 2025.

However, Israel enjoys the full diplomatic protection of the United States, allowing it to shield its officials from any form of accountability, including arrest warrants by the ICC against Bibi Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

However, such a veil of protection is not impermeable, as made evident by the failed plot in 2025 on U.S. soil, which underscores the growing dangers as well as the increased global counterintelligence operations. Iran's successful intervention in exposing such operations marks the declining fortunes of these tactics.

Over 80 years, Israel has institutionalized false flag operations, realizing institutional and strategic achievements such as Operation Susannah and the Dimona deception. Yet, the current international environment necessitates stringent forensic scrutiny of such operations and adherence to international norms.

As the Tehran Times revealed on June 25, 2025, that Israel was plotting to carry out an explosion on U.S. soil and subsequently blame Iran—with the apparent aim of instigating a full-scale war between the United States and Iran—alertness and preemptive action against state-sponsored deception remain essential to safeguarding the global order.