Israel's real strength is its high-tech cyber, drone, and influence power, which makes it a formidable player pursuing its own interests above all.

• Israel's cyber and space-based attack skills rank at the top, ahead of even China, learned from the US and rentable from Russia.
• The exploding pager attack shows how far Israel can reach, including sneaking drones across enemy borders.
• Israel acts purely in its own national interest — align with it and you're a friend, cross it and you're not.
• Netanyahu has pushed this harder, partly to rack up wins while facing corruption charges at home.
• His moves make Israel safer for the next two to three decades but also create fresh enemies down the road.

Outlook: Expect Israel to keep leaning on covert and cyber tools, with Netanyahu chasing security wins to shield himself from his legal troubles.