Israel Attacks Iran

Iran wanted to put a gun to Israel's head, then fire. So Israel is taking away its gun.

I'm writing this at 4 am in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel. I just filled some empty seltzer bottles with water and put them, along with grapes, crackers, and mints, in our bomb shelter. We likely will be spending time there over the next few days.

Please excuse the desultory nature of the following thoughts. I simply wanted to express something, and this is the result.

When you go to war in your land against an enemy who attacks you, you shall blow the trumpets; you will be remembered before Hashem your God, and will be saved from your enemies. (Bamidbar 10:9, which is in the fourth aliya of this week’s Torah portion, Beha’aolotecha)

Apparently, there was no more time.

This is a day Israelis and Jews across the world have been both anticipating and dreading for years: the day that Israel finally decided that enough is enough, and that waiting any longer is potentially deadly.

Iran has been enriching uranium to 60% fissile purity - far beyond that which is needed for any civilian purposes. (The JCPOA set a cap of 3.67% in 2015.) The denials from Iranian leaders have always been disingenuous; they’re preparing to build nuclear bombs, and everyone knows the name of their singular target.

Israel had to act. There was no more time. According to reports, Iran was literally days away from achieving its murderous goal.

(AI Image by Pixabay)

Do not forget: Israel has effectively been at war with Iran for twenty months. Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other groups sworn to Israel’s destruction - all of whom initiated hostilities against Israel on or soon after October 7th - are part of Iran’s Axis of Resistance, which is largely directed and funded by Teheran. As numerous wags have asserted, Iran will fight Israel to the death of the last Arab, pushing its terror proxies to wage war against Israel and Jews across the world while trying to protect its own national interests.

Israel’s war against Hamas has continued for twenty months, and at times it seems that Israel is stuck in a type of quagmire; the Netanyahu government, while calling for total victory, has not provided much detail on how it intends to accomplish that elusive goal. Nevertheless, the mounting (and, in my mind, appropriate) frustration increasingly expressed by a growing sector of the Israeli public cannot distract us from the unprecedented military achievements that Israel has accomplished since October 7th. Hamas as a functioning military is largely destroyed; it now exists as a somewhat well-armed yet disorganized group of terrorists without anything approaching the military capabilities that it possessed before the war. Hezbollah was organizationally shattered; while it can (and likely will) rebuild, its capability to harm Israel in a significant manner has been largely disabled. Syria, which was not only one of Israel’s most diehard enemies but also a bridge between Iran and Hezbollah, saw President Assad overthrown, followed by an emboldened Israel’s quick and precise destruction of much of Syria’s military equipment. And Iran, which fired ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and suicide drones at Israel in in April and October, 2024, was unsuccessful in significantly damaging Israel’s military, and was soon attacked - without real consequence - by Israel, which severely damaged Iranian air defenses.

In short, Israel’s position in international public opinion may never have been weaker… but its military standing relative to its adversaries has never been stronger.

Iran’s final gambit was to acquire nuclear weapons - and tonight Israel is ensuring that the evil regime in Teheran will never be able to put a gun to Israel’s head. We already know that if it could, it would fire without hesitation.

There will likely be difficult days ahead. Iran, while weakened, retains the capability to hurt Israel. The Home Front Command has instructed all Israelis to stay near bomb shelters until further notice. The IDF has made it clear that Israel’s operation against Iran will continue for several days. This is not going to be easy.

But Israel is doing what it has to do. There was no more time, and Israel is stepping up to the challenge so that we, the Jewish people, can live in freedom in our ancestral homeland. We ask for nothing but to be left alone, yet for the radical Islamists who hate us, that is far too much. We will not let them act on their belief that we have no right to exist.

Let the world screech and scream. We will not sacrifice our existence on the altar of fundamentalist evil allied with progressive leftists and radical rightists.

Tonight is the beginning of an Israel that will stand tall. Let’s hope we can also use these perilous and precious moments as motivation to move further along the path to becoming the medinah l’mofet - the exemplary moral nation — that we have always tried to be.