Fantastic achievements, but the job is not done - opinion

During the course of this war, now in its 20th month, our brave soldiers ably defanged Iran’s proxies in a manner so clever that it seemed like an implausible action movie. But this was only the appetizer, as the threat from the proxies was intended to act as the Islamic Republic’s protective insurance policy and ensure Iran remained unassailable, while Tehran put its nuclear program into high gear.

Once we removed its proxy tentacles, we were freed to finally concentrate on the main course – the head of the octopus, our real and ultimate enemy, Iran.

So, chapeau to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the extraordinary pilots of the IAF, the ingenious Mossad and the rest of our intelligence services, and to all of our brave soldiers who have so valiantly defended the homeland.

Their courage and precision have ensured the reversal of Iran’s ring of fire and have taken the fight directly to Tehran.

The Israeli people have demonstrated remarkable resilience and cohesion during this interminable war, something our enemies failed to understand when they planned our destruction. We are suffering from the losses we have endured and over the fate of our hostages in Gaza. Yet we remain strong and united.

Likewise, the Jewish people in the Diaspora have stood with us in solidarity, which has helped support our morale during our darkest hour. For our survival, this unity at home and abroad must be sustained. It is not merely political; it is existential.

Since June 13, Israel has pounded Iran’s ability to wage war against us. We also began to destroy elements of Tehran’s nuclear program, intended not for “peaceful purposes” as they claimed  – why would a petroleum superpower spend tens of billions of dollars on unneeded nuclear energy at the expense of their failing economy? – but to threaten our very existence and that of the entire civilized world.

Israel is considered by the mullahs to be merely the Little Satan, while the US is the Great Satan in Iran’s crosshairs. Tehran also planned to use its nuclear program to impose its nefarious plan for imperialistic, hegemonic dominance over the entire Middle East and beyond.

We thank US President Donald Trump enormously, for his historic leadership when he stood firm in his insistence that the Islamic Republic not be permitted to acquire nuclear weapons. His bombing of Fordow, a facility seemingly beyond Israel’s reach, destroyed Iran’s most impenetrable nuclear facility. Tehran can no longer, at this moment, threaten us with a sudden breakout of nuclear weapons.

We thank the American president, too, for his unwavering support of Israel and the Jewish people, as our close allies, such as Britain, France, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, have seemingly abandoned us in our time of greatest peril.

Our removal of this immediate Iranian threat in fact benefits them, as well as it does the entire free world, which owes Israel a large debt of gratitude.

Israel and the United States’ powerful concerted military actions against Iran also make the entire Middle East safer and reduce Tehran’s stature in the region.

It also has promoted nuclear nonproliferation; if the Islamic Republic had been allowed to enrich uranium, even for its alleged “peaceful purposes” – Iran would have been the only non-nuclear armed country in the world that was enriching uranium – this would have destroyed the whole notion of nuclear nonproliferation, as countries such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey would have surely had the impetus to follow suit.

Since June 13, I’ve been holding discussions with world leaders and other key stakeholders to rally support for Israel’s military campaign in Iran and to encourage US intervention. In this, I was pleasantly surprised by the words of support I received. Everyone I spoke with understood the dangers of a nuclear Iran.

In addition to his support in his second term in office, we do not forget President Trump’s remarkable Abraham Accords, achieved during his first term. Making peace with our Sunni Arab neighbors was something State Department “experts” said was impossible without granting the corrupt, kleptocratic, and ultimately hostile Palestinian Authority a state, which the majority of Israelis realistically – because we know our neighbors too well – oppose.

President Trump’s out-of-the-box approach to peacemaking disproved the so-called experts and naysayers.

We have never had a better friend in the White House, nor a more sympathetic American cabinet. Yet there are other, isolationist voices who occasionally have the president’s ear. They are re-litigating America’s last wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, while ignoring America and the world’s current threats.

President Trump defied the isolationists in bombing Fordow and disproved their predictions of the loss of thousands of American lives, with America becoming embroiled in yet another foreign war.

But, as impressive as all of this has been, let’s understand that we haven’t finished the job. It may take a year or five, but this fanatical, genocidal, Islamo-fascist Iranian regime will be determined to rebuild all the aggressive assets that we and America destroyed.

Moreover, they will learn from our outmaneuvering, tactical victories and build back better so that the job of defending ourselves against this determined, sworn enemy will be all the more difficult next time.

Given that there are reports that the regime may have removed some or all of the enriched uranium from the nuclear sites in Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow to a secret location, the next time might be sooner rather than later.

No amount of bombing will defeat this tyrannical enemy, as the mullahs are a fanatical, determined, and unrelenting foe. True victory will only occur following the removal of the ayatollahs’ regime in Iran.

But for this to happen, we Israelis and our allies must be wise. While our people enjoy, during this Trump-imposed ceasefire, a well-deserved rest from Iran’s war crime of deliberately bombing our civilians, we cannot allow Tehran to use this period as a means to rearm.

This war must continue until our enemy has been defeated. This includes regime change, just as happened in World War II when the Allies convincingly defeated the enemy and accepted no less than unconditional surrender. The surrender by the Nazi and Japanese regimes led to a new era of durable peace.

I understand that President Trump wants to keep the price of oil low to sustain America’s economy. I also understand that he detests war. But without a total victory, Iran will return as a menace to again threaten the entire world.

President Trump viscerally understands this, too, and I am confident that he will allow us to finish the job.

For reasons of political correctness, Netanyahu has said regime change is not a specific goal of this war with Iran. But this is belied by Israel’s bombing of nonstrategic but symbolic regime assets, such as the headquarters of the despised Basij militia and the front gate of notorious Evin Prison.

This is a clear signal to Iranians fed up with living in the ayatollahs’ regime-imposed misery that this is their time to rise up.

To win this war, there will be suffering in the short term to achieve true, long-term peace and stability.

Foreigners alone cannot liberate Iran; Iranians ultimately must have the courage to revolt against their hated Islamist regime. But we can, and must, assist them, unlike presidents Obama and Biden, who ignored the Iranian uprisings that occurred during their respective administrations.

The West must isolate Iran – diplomatically, covertly, militarily, economically, and morally – until the terrorist regime is no more.

The long-suffering people of Iran have no beef with Israel or Jews. Rather, more than 80% of Iranians loathe their totalitarian regime. Once the ayatollahs are removed from power, a peaceful Iran would have no need for a nuclear program, ballistic missiles, or terrorist proxies.

Without Tehran’s support, these proxies will shrivel up and die. We could end the wars in Gaza and Lebanon and see the return of our hostages.

Then a friendly Iran could naturally join the Abraham Accords, surely followed by others, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Syria, Lebanon, and even Yemen.

The 100-year war against the tiny Jewish presence in the Middle East might finally end, auguring a new era of 100 years of peace. Amen.