Defense Minister Israel Katz visited the Intelligence Division together with the head of Military Intelligence, Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder and other senior officials in the Intelligence Division. Katz said that "the Iranians were surprised to the extent that they were not prepared despite the strategic warning — because they could not assess the scope, breadth and depth of the intelligence down to the last target, and the operational capability to exploit the intelligence to strike, attack, destroy and demolish their capabilities." He also said that "the operation was planned for mid-year but due to all the developments and circumstances, the need arose to move everything forward to February. You provided tremendous progress in the intelligence dimension that enabled this. You have a huge part in building this capability."