The photos showing Israeli soldiers seizing control of the Klos-C weapons vessel, and the sounds of congratulatory slaps on the backs of the country’s top brass, are reminiscent of the heated race to obtain “the victory photo” during the second Lebanon war in 2006. Military analyst Ofer Shelah, a member of the Knesset and of its Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, wrote in an article published in 2011 in the Israeli daily Maariv that “a force of paratroopers was sent to the village of Bint Jbeil to fly the Israeli flag over one of the houses, to snap a picture and to withdraw.”
“The victory photo,” explained Shelah, was designed to sear the consciousness of both sides with “Israel’s undeniable victory.”