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The Israeli air strike targeting the Dayr az-Zawr area on September 6, 2007 raised numerous questions, which are yet to be answered convincingly. Despite severe Israeli censorship, everything tends to confirm that such an attack was far more than a simple intimidation operation and was probably linked to the presence of nuclear material provided by North Korea. Whatever this strike was really aiming for, it had very positive consequences for the Israeli government, both on the domestic and the international.Pierre Razoux is director of research at NATO's Defence College, in charge of the Mediterranean dialogue and the Near East issues. He is the author of books on the Israeli-Arab conflict, including Tsahal: nouvelle histoire de l’armée israélienne (Paris, Perrin, 2006).