I made it a point not to go to sleep last night knowing what was coming from Iran. After Shabbat with my son’s pre-army program, we heard news of the instructions from Israel’s Homefront Command that for the next two days, all schools will be closed, no gathering of more than 1000 people, Israel’s airport and airspace closed, and more.
To be honest, I went into Shabbat – the day of rest - very nervous that something would happen, that we were near the airport which for sure is a major target, and that we would be far from home and our family (except for our youngest son who will be going into the army this summer).
Before we knew that Iran had launched hundreds of drones and missiles, things were already tense. Then when we realized what was happening, what was heading our way, things got even more nervous. I didn’t fear as much for myself, but the waiting felt like waiting for an execution to take place. Maybe there’s a better analogy but that’s the best one I have on three hours sleep.
Of course, the source of the terrorist attack and broader threat is in Iran. However, I feel like there’s schizophrenia in the White House that is enabling the Islamic regime to act as aggressively as it is. There’s no question in my mind that President Biden does not want an all-out regional war, and perhaps genuinely does care about Israel’s safety. I am grateful for that and the US (and others) participating in intelligence and shooting down some incoming Iranian missiles and drones before they arrived in Israeli air space. But I am no less sure that the Biden Administration is acting the way it is because it does not want a regional escalation, albeit what they are doing makes that more probable.
But it feels like the Biden Administration is behaving like an arsonist trying to put out a fire that it is pretending it didn’t set. In November, the Administration released $10 billion to Iran, providing much-needed funds to pay for its domestic and global terrorist infrastructure, weapons, incitement, and race toward a nuclear weapon. (Parenthetically, anyone who thinks that a nuclear Iran won’t use such a weapon after last night is foolish.)
The Administration has “threatened” Iran with tough words like “don’t,” and that its support for Israel is “ironclad.” But its actions on top of funding the Islamic regime, by enabling a UN resolution against Israel, by threatening to withhold weapons and other public displays of friction tell a different story. In addition to Iran and its proxies in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen looking closely to see how much they can get away with, so is the rest of the Arab world which considers Iran no less of a threat, and is even allied with Israel, even if indirectly. They are looking to see how reliable the US really is.
Looking at a statement that Biden made, there’s indeed a lot to worry about. While Biden did “condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms,” in the official White House statement, what he condemned in the strongest possible terms was “an unprecedented air attack against military facilities in Israel.” I guess the president must have been snoozing when I was jolted out of bed and sent to a bomb shelter with an attack on my communities and hundreds of other communities from large cities to small towns, most definitely not “military facilities.”
Amid the missiles exploding, one could hear a chuckle from Tehran at Biden’s absurd lie.
Biden also reportedly told Prime Minister Netanyahu that the United States would neither participate in nor support offensive actions against Iran. The message went public.
Unfortunately, these are exactly the wrong messages to an ally that has just been brazenly attacked, sends a message of weakness to the Islamic regime and its terrorist proxies, and puts Israel, the Arab world, and the rest of the world at even greater risk.
When I see the duplicity, at best confusion, I know it shows weakness to Iran and its terrorist proxies. Iran’s attack was a failure militarily. Yes, the US and others played an important role in that which I will not disregard or be ungrateful for. But when the same countries and leaders then warn Israel not to respond in a way that will escalate the situation, I also know that the Iranian Islamic regime and its Islamic terrorist proxies smell an opportunity. They calculated that they could launch hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles and get away with it.
In calculating its own response, balanced with the pressure from the US and others, Israel needs to consider whether if others had been attacked like this, would they respond harshly or would roll over. Israel needs to calculate that even with the successful air defense system it has built, and now demonstrated, these defensive weapons are meant to keep Israelis safe, not making firing missiles and drones at Israel acceptable.
The US and others cannot on one hand issue soft verbal threats as Biden did with his “don’t” and “ironclad” comments, and yet enable the terror by providing billions of dollars, voting against Israel in the US, or pretending that the Iranian Islamic regime doesn't mean what they are threatening. Or that they can be rationalized and reasoned with.
Looking ahead, the Biden Administration needs to back down from its weakness and show some backbone. Biden would be well off to remember that the Islamic regime only refers to Israel as the “Little Satan” and the US as the “Big Satan.” When they goad Iranian children to chant “Death to America,” and “Death to Israel,” it’s not because it’s a nice rhyme in Farsi or part of a geography class, but because they mean it.
Standing strong against the Iranian regime and its proxies is the way to bring peace, to bring moderate Arab states together in an alliance with Israel, and to protect the world. Iranians need external support so they can take to the streets and end the 45-year tyrannous Islamic regime.
Failure to stand up to the Islamic terrorists emboldens and empowers them. It could invite aggressive and even a military response from Turkey, NATO’s Islamist member that threatens us all as well.
As the Iranian foreign ministry posted after the arrack was underway, this is the first round. They are prepared to do more. Israel is prepared for that occasion. While Israel’s air defense had a remarkable 99 percent effective rate and few missiles actually landed in Israel, we need to remember that this was a defense against only hundreds of missiles and drones. Among other international failures, the UN has enabled Hezbollah to amass anywhere from 150,000-350,000 rockets, missiles, and other weapons that are capable of hitting all of Israel. The estimation is that they can launch in a day, ten times (or more) what Iran just launched, possibly overwhelming even the best air defense systems.
The time is now for the US Administration to act with fortitude and moral clarity. Failure to do so will be a disaster and lead to the inevitable escalation that it says it doesn’t want anyway.