Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

How the Israelis Did It
Powerline ^ | 03/02/2026 | John Hinderaker

Posted on 03/02/2026 1:05:52 PM PST by DFG

No doubt there is much more to the story, but this is awesome:

Years before the air strike that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Israeli intelligence had been quietly mapping the daily rhythms of Tehran.

According to reporting by the Financial Times, nearly all of the Iranian capital’s traffic cameras had been hacked years earlier, their footage encrypted and transmitted to Israeli servers. One camera angle near Pasteur Street, close to Khamenei’s compound, allowed analysts to observe the routines of bodyguards and drivers: where they parked, when they arrived and whom they escorted.

That data was fed into complex algorithms that built what intelligence officials call a “pattern of life,” detailed profiles including addresses, work schedules and, crucially, which senior officials were being protected and transported. The surveillance stream was one of hundreds feeding Israel’s intelligence system, which combines signals interception from Unit 8200, human assets recruited by the Mossad and large-scale data analysis by military intelligence.

According to this report, a key human source was ours:

When US and Israeli intelligence determined that Khamenei would attend a Saturday morning meeting at his compound, the opportunity was judged unusually favorable. Two people familiar with the operation told the FT that US intelligence provided confirmation from a human source that the meeting was proceeding as planned, a level of certainty required for a target of such magnitude.

A brilliantly executed operation.


TOPICS: Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: iran; israel; khamenei; ortheyhadamole; trafficcamera
Message from Jim Robinson:

Dear FRiends,

We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.

If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:

Click here: to donate by Credit Card

Or here: to donate by PayPal

Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794

Thank you very much and God bless you,

Jim


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-39 next last
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/syimwdmfzl
1 posted on 03/02/2026 1:05:53 PM PST by DFG
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: DFG

Interesting, a person on the ground had to produce the last detail. “I Spy” lives on.


2 posted on 03/02/2026 1:10:18 PM PST by SaxxonWoods (Annnd....I voted for this too!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DFG

The above information should NOT have been dessiminated!


3 posted on 03/02/2026 1:14:00 PM PST by Flaming Conservative ((Pray without ceasing))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DFG

Why is this being made public? What is the advantage of that?


4 posted on 03/02/2026 1:14:20 PM PST by imardmd1 (To learn is to live; the joy of living: to teach. Fiat Lux! )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Flaming Conservative

almost certainly, the key details were changed to protect intelligence sources

this is done all the time


5 posted on 03/02/2026 1:16:09 PM PST by faithhopecharity ("Politicians aren't born, they're excreted." Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 to 43 BCE))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: DFG

Why publicize stuff like this? We don’t really need to let the rugriders know how we’re spying on them.


6 posted on 03/02/2026 1:16:20 PM PST by decal (They won't stop, so they'll have to be stopped)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: imardmd1

“Why is this being made public?”

It sure sounds good, but maybe it’s made up to protect the human sources.


7 posted on 03/02/2026 1:18:03 PM PST by ryderann
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: ryderann

Sometimes paranoia striking deep in your enemy is a good thing. We know that...
1. They cannot use pagers
2. They cannot use walkie-talkies
3. They cannot use traffic cameras
4. And, and, and...what else?

Pretty soon they’ll be living in the stone age.


8 posted on 03/02/2026 1:24:55 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: ryderann

Methinks our enemies will catch on. All they have to do is put 2 and two together so we might as well let it out. I don’t think they’re carrying around pagers anymore either.


9 posted on 03/02/2026 1:25:55 PM PST by DIRTYSECRET
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: imardmd1

“Why is this being made public? What is the advantage of that?”

Very simply, it drives the enemy crazy. They don’t know what to believe and they will give themselves whiplash trying to look over both shoulders at the same time. It’s psychological warfare.


10 posted on 03/02/2026 1:27:05 PM PST by Bayan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: decal

Gaining access to security, traffic and other cameras is very basic

There are now open source tools that are easy enough o use that most anyone with some basic skills could recreate at least monitoring and data capture and probably assemble a reasonable portion of the analysis on their own


11 posted on 03/02/2026 1:27:15 PM PST by Manuel OKelley
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: ProtectOurFreedom
"Sometimes paranoia striking deep in your enemy is a good thing."

Paranoia strikes deep,
Into your life it will creep.
It starts when you're always afraid:
Step out of line, the Jews come
And bomb you away.

12 posted on 03/02/2026 1:32:56 PM PST by BlueLancer (Orchides Forum Trahite - Cordes Et Mentes Veniant)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: DFG

I had a conversation once with a person who was able to predict when Saddam was getting ready to invade Kuwait. Without getting into specifics, he was able to describe the types of things they were looking at.

I was blown away at the mundane stuff that could be watched, and tracked over time…to predict what was going to happen next.

He also described a meeting where he was told to brief “a man with an Israeli accent” about what they had been watching and why.

The intelligence world sounds like it’s pretty boring most of the time. Its a lot more “Sherlock Holmes” than it is James Bond.


13 posted on 03/02/2026 1:38:03 PM PST by Vermont Lt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: imardmd1

The cameras are probably disconnected by now. LOL


14 posted on 03/02/2026 1:38:31 PM PST by Vermont Lt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: imardmd1

“Why is this being made public? What is the advantage of that?”

Well, it tells me we should rip all the traffic cameras out of the USA.

If the Israelis can do it, so can others.


15 posted on 03/02/2026 1:40:57 PM PST by MeanWestTexan (Sometimes There Is No Lesser Of Two Evils)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: MeanWestTexan

Where is everyone getting their news at these days. Freerepublic used to be the source but I am seeing so many news stories which don’t make it here? Best place to find up to date news?


16 posted on 03/02/2026 1:44:45 PM PST by BOBWADE (God Bless America)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: BOBWADE

You tell me.

Post the stories you find!


17 posted on 03/02/2026 1:46:17 PM PST by MeanWestTexan (Sometimes There Is No Lesser Of Two Evils)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: DFG

It’s at least a viable cover story to mask the human intelligence assets there.


18 posted on 03/02/2026 1:46:55 PM PST by Bob Wills is still the king
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DFG

About 90% of intelligence is simply observing.


19 posted on 03/02/2026 1:48:51 PM PST by CodeToad
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Flaming Conservative

Or disseminated either.


20 posted on 03/02/2026 1:50:31 PM PST by P8riot (You will never know Jesus Christ as a reality in your life until you know Him as a necessity.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-39 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson