Media outlets throughout the Middle East are reporting details of the newly-released story of Israel’s successful 2007 destruction a Syrian nuclear reactor by an 8-plane strike force just before it was due to be activated. The secret mission has generated a side-story among Israelis who are asking why the nation’s acclaimed intelligence infrastructure apparently failed to take notice of the lethal facility during the years it was under construction “right next door” and why the secret operation is being declassified at this time. On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu praised the army, the Mossad intelligence agency and his predecessor government under Ehud Olmert, saying they had “prevented Syria from developing nuclear capabilities.” The PM reiterated that, “Israel’s policy was and has remained consistent – preventing our enemies from obtaining nuclear weapons.” The man who termed the intelligence lapse as a “thunderous failure” is Tamir Pardo, who headed the Mossad at the time. One suggested reason for the timing of the declassification of the mission is that Syria obtained its reactor from North Korea. Release of the information paints a similar facility in North Korea as vulnerable and reiterates the menace the rogue regime presents to the world – a message supportive of the Trump administration’s policies. The Al-Kubar reactor was located 270 miles northwest of Damascus.