The Israeli air force is not used to failure. Thus the corps, which had become synonymous with excellence and meticulousness, has been in a quandary for the last 10 days: On July 17, it launched two Patriot missiles at the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that penetrated Israeli airspace over the Golan Heights zone, and the two Patriots missed their mark. An F-16 fighter jet was also dispatched against the mysterious UAV and launched an air-to-air missile at it, but also missed the target. To the air force’s great consternation, the aircraft succeeded in turning around to disappear into Syrian territory, as fast as it came.

Until now, the air force does not know the answers to key questions: What kind of UAV it was, who launched it and why they were unable to intercept it. Al-Monitor received information that the UAV hovered above Israeli territory for about 30 minutes. In air force terms, this is practically an eternity.

“The investigation is underway,” a high-placed source in the air force told Al-Monitor this week on condition of anonymity. “It is still in Operations Research. At the moment we cannot publicize its findings. We hope that we will know what exactly happened and how, and that we’ll be able to draw the appropriate conclusions.”

The source added that the incident took the air force by surprise. “Patriot missiles have a proven ability to intercept UAVs. They accomplished this successfully in training exercises and also in real incidents in the Protective Edge campaign,” he added. “This time we didn't accomplish our mission, and the most important thing is to understand why.”