Going underground: Israel must fortify its vital infrastructure before the next war - opinion

The Swords of Iron war, the rounds of fighting with Iran, and the conduct of our enemies in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran have once again highlighted the damage that kinetic strikes can inflict on above-ground assets. Such strikes affect the IDF's military and intelligence continuity of operations, the operational continuity of critical national infrastructure, and the ability to maintain normal life. This stands in sharp contrast to the strategic and extensive use our enemies make of the underground domain.Our enemies understood long before we did the considerable advantage offered by the underground domain. They made it a central element of their strategy, using it to gain partial protection from detection and attack. This has given them some degree of military and national continuity of operations, in both defense and offense.The IDF and the US military have overcome the challenges posed by the underground domain in most cases. However, doing so required efforts disproportionate to the scale of the threat. By the end of the process, the enemy had indeed been severely damaged but not eliminated.The military doctrine our enemies built largely around the advantages of the underground domain has significantly undermined Israel's operational capabilities.