Israel duped the Islamic Republic prior to its unprecedented attack on Iranian soil overnight Thursday in a number of ways, including hinting that nothing would happen before Avner Netanyahu’s wedding next week; US envoy Steve Witkoff’s fictitious meeting with Iran on Sunday; and Trump’s “warnings” to Netanyahu to refrain from attacking Iran, Channel 12 News reported.

According to Yisrael Hayom, military analysts are calling the deception operation the most sophisticated in Israel’s modern history. In addition to false media reports and misleading statements from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Chareidi draft law crisis created genuine domestic political strife, serving as “an impenetrable cover for military preparations that Tehran never detected.”

“It was the perfect smokescreen,” a senior Israeli source told The Jerusalem Post.

Even Thursday night’s security cabinet meeting, at which the Iran operation was approved, was deliberately mislabeled as a discussion on hostage deal negotiations.

“The aim was to put Iran to sleep,” the source told the Post.

Every minister present at the meeting signed a strict non-disclosure agreement, known as a Shomer Sod (“guardian of the secret”) document.

On the surface, the deception operation unfolded as the coalition teetered due to the Chareidi draft law crisis. When the plan to strike Iran was signed on Monday, the crisis was at its peak. At the same time, international reports announced a new round of [fictious] US-Iran nuclear talks on Sunday, with Witkoff scheduled to attend. This was announced after Israel had informed the Trump administration about the attack.

While the US began evacuating its embassy employees in Iraq, Israel maintained complete silence. Trump’s statements about his insistence on reaching a diplomatic solution with Iran, and his so-called order to Netanyahu to refrain from striking Iran further obscured Israel’s military preparations.

The final deception layer involved Netanyahu’s personal schedule. His aides told reporters that he was taking a family vacation in the north and would be attending his son Avner’s wedding on Tuesday. The date of Avner’s wedding was well-known as reports about it have been filling Israeli media outlets for weeks.

In order to ensure complete secrecy, only a small circle of essential cabinet ministers and senior IDF officials, including Netanyahu, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, and Mossad chief Dedi Barnea, were aware of the precise timing of the strike.

At the same time as Dermer and Barnea were in top-level discussions about the strike, the PMO issued a statement saying that the two top officials were flying to Washington on Friday to meet Witkoff for the sixth round of Iran-US talks in Oman. In actuality, there was no sixth round of talks scheduled, and both officials remained in Israel to oversee the operation.

Additionally, the PMO did not issue a statement denying the false reports about the so-called “dispute” between US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu over an Israeli strike in Iran, creating a perception that the two leaders were at diplomatic odds.

Channel 12 journalist Amit Segal noted that Trump had publicly stated on April 12 that he will allow Iran “60 days to reach a deal.”

“Today is day 61,” Segal wrote.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)