Israel-Iran conflict: Why tech alone can’t win the spy war

Report by Lara El Hachem, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian

With every high-profile assassination carried out by Israel against its enemies, attention turns once again to the role of human agents—and the extent to which the country still relies on them despite its significant superiority in artificial intelligence and advanced technologies.

Even AI itself offers an answer: human operatives are not entirely replaceable. Artificial intelligence is an assistant, not a substitute. It cannot decide or act on its own. 

A human agent can build a relationship of trust with the target, expose intentions, infiltrate secret meetings, plant listening devices, and determine whether a person is present, who is accompanying them, or whether they changed plans at the last minute. 

It is trust—something only a person can establish—that enables accurate technological targeting.

Since deception is essential to achieving strategic advantage, deploying human agents can also influence enemy decisions—exactly what happened in the recent assassination of Iranian military commanders.

According to a security official cited by Fox News, Israel misled Iran’s air force into holding a meeting and influenced the commanders’ behavior, prompting them to remain there. That decision, shaped by intelligence provided by human agents, proved fatal.

Deception—repeated and evolving—is a tool used by agents in various ways. In the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, The Jewish Chronicle reported that agents monitored his residence, located on a hill with tall trees, using operatives disguised in green who climbed the trees to surveil the site. 

According to The Telegraph, Mossad even recruited operatives from the Ansar al-Mahdi protection unit. Ultimately, the assassination was carried out remotely with assistance from artificial intelligence.

Once again, Israel’s conflict with Iran has revealed that it cannot forgo the use of human agents. They play a pivotal role in dismantling enemy capabilities. A recently released video documenting Mossad operations inside Iranian territory underscores their impact.

In short, human intelligence and technology are interdependent. To date, no research indicates that one can succeed without the other in executing a successful covert operation.