Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech to Likud activists on Dec. 2 that was both defensive and combative toward law enforcement authorities. He complained about the supposedly suspicious timing of the police announcement recommending his indictment for taking bribes in Case 4000, coming as it did one day before Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh concluded his term in office.

Barely 48 hours later, on the morning of Dec. 4, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced the launch of Operation Northern Shield to locate tunnels dug by Hezbollah along the Lebanese-Israeli border. Along with relevant remarks about the actual operation, quite a few commenters joked and wondered about its timing.

“Operation Bullshit” was how one commenter described it. Another ridiculed it as “Operation Balfour Street,” a reference to the address of the prime minister’s residence, and someone else dubbed it “Operation 7000,” the sum of the criminal investigation case names against Netanyahu — Cases 1000, 2000 and 4000. This last comment was in response to an analysis published Dec. 4 in Haaretz by military correspondent Amos Harel, who wondered whether the move was nothing more than an “Operation Grandma,” referencing a satirical cult movie about Israel’s obsession with defense.

None of those ridiculing the timing of Operation Northern Shield expressed any doubt about the need to destroy the tunnels dug by Hezbollah to infiltrate Israel, but the operation does raise quite a few questions and doubts that are hardly amusing.