Israel just had its Cold War moment — and came out on top



Israel’s Operation Rising Lion, alongside the U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities, has eliminated the threat of a nuclear Iran. Just weeks ago, the threat of nuclear weapons in Iran loomed large and seemed inevitable. The world is now unquestionably safer.

If there were any doubt of Israel’s capabilities, this operation has burnished the Israeli military’s reputation as first-class when it comes to lethality and intelligence tradecraft.

The strikes on Iran open up a new door for Israel — one that moves its priorities from defending against existential threats to a role as global peacemaker.

Operation Rising Lion also showcased the close partnership between Israel and the United States. In President Trump’s address following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz, he explained that Israel and the U.S. worked “as a team like no team has ever worked before” to ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.

With its top strategic threat neutralized — a threat that shaped Israeli military planning for decades — Israel now has an opportunity it hasn’t had in its modern history. Since it is not consumed solely by existential concerns from Iran, it can now re-evaluate its foreign policy goals and consider how to build on this achievement, which advances not only Israeli and American security but global stability.

Of course, the Iranian regime has not said its final word on the matter. President Trump and his team will likely proceed with negotiations to obtain Iran’s commitment to abandon its quest for a nuclear weapon. Moreover, as Trump has repeatedly clarified, should Ayatollah Khamenei make any moves to rush toward a nuclear weapon, military options remain on the table for the United States.

But last month’s historic military milestones have undeniably produced a new geopolitical reality. The Iranian regime — stripped of its top commanders and nuclear scientists and without many military capabilities — is now a shell of its former self. For all the relief and celebration this historic moment brings, it also presents Israel with a new challenge — not unlike the one the United States faced after the Cold War.

Israel's top strategic threat has suddenly disappeared.

From survivor to peacemaker

Today, Israel can reassess its national ethos, which for the past 77 years has focused on survival. Through Operation Rising Lion, Israel has achieved the unthinkable. The nation now has the chance to think not only in terms of immediate threats, but of long-term opportunity.

Israel certainly continues to face enemies who seek its destruction. Iran and its proxies, even in their weakened state, remain a serious threat and are determined as ever to strike, with or without nuclear weapons. But the region now faces a power imbalance that could work in Israel’s favor. As in the post-Cold War era, when nations aligned themselves with U.S. power, more countries in the Middle East may now prefer to join “Team Israel” than to stand against it.

Even before Oct. 7, Israel had established itself as a global force. As Putin began escalating his invasion of Ukraine, European nations quickly became consumers of Israel’s military technology, particularly its air defense systems. After the success of the Abraham Accords, Israel emerged as a leader in extending economic benefits across the global South through its role in the India-Middle East Economic Corridor. The technological ventures and scientific discoveries of the “startup nation” have contributed breakthroughs to medicine, travel, and communication, among other industries.

Israel’s vigilance must continue. But the success of Operation Rising Lion opens a door for a new phase in its global role — one in which Israel embraces the responsibilities of a peacemaker.

Though this may sound like a lofty ideal, Israel — like the United States after World War II and the Cold War — has a track record. Israel’s ability to do so depends on its teamwork with the world’s top force for good and peace: the United States.

Three strategic regions

Given its small size and the volatility of its region, Israel will have to choose carefully where to engage. But there are three scenarios where its role as a peacemaker is not only viable but strategically beneficial.

The first is in Syria. Capitalizing on President Trump’s newfound relationship with Ahmed al-Sharaa during his visit to the Middle East in May, al-Sharaa has already had a team meet with an Israeli delegation in Azerbaijan.

Moreover, al-Sharaa opened Syria’s skies to Israel during its operation against Iran. Israel can assist al-Sharaa as he faces the challenge of centralizing control in Syria and securing the Levant area.

RELATED: After the bombs, Iran sharpens its digital daggers

  Photo by BirgitKorber via Getty Images

The second is in Ukraine. With its large Russian-speaking population and unique position in regional politics, Israel can serve as a mediator between the United States and Russia. This could also help the U.S. apply pressure on Iran, Russia’s key military supplier.

The third opportunity lies in Europe, particularly in deepening cooperation with NATO members. Israel not only brings top-tier military technology to the table but can also collaborate on countering Iran’s influence on the continent.

Israel’s ‘post-Cold War’ moment

Israel will need to continue its military operations in Gaza, in the West Bank, and in the north. It must continue to track and anticipate how and where the Iranian regime will escalate conflict, as it inevitably will, whether incrementally or in more overwhelming provocations.

Building on its new record of world peace, Israel can invest in new partnerships and forms of cooperation that position it not only as a survivor in a tough neighborhood but also as a bridge to a better future for its region and beyond.

Trump’s strike wasn’t an escalation — it was an exit



I was 4 years old when I watched President George W. Bush announce the U.S. invasion of Iraq. I was 24 when I reported on Joe Biden’s abysmal withdrawal from Afghanistan — a calamitous end to a 20-year war that had long passed its expiration date. So when reports began circulating last week about President Trump’s potential intervention in Iran, I sighed and thought, “Here we go again.” I imagined myself covering the withdrawal from this conflict near my retirement, decades from now.

But I’ve changed my mind.

Instead of plunging America into another endless conflict, Trump may have done the opposite: broken the cycle.

This is not Iraq. And if handled strategically, this may actually mark the end of the Middle East’s “forever wars.”

A reckoning long overdue

Iran has long been the destabilizing force in the region, a role that is the latest installment of the Middle East’s millennia-long conflict between Shia and Sunni Muslim political powers. Since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the ayatollahs’ regime has acted as the mother ship for Shia militias across the Sunni-majority Middle East — exporting revolution and arming sectarian militias with a reach far beyond its borders. From Yemen to Lebanon, Syria to Gaza, Iran’s fingerprints are everywhere.

Take the Houthis in Yemen. Once a marginal insurgent group, they’ve grown into a regional menace thanks entirely to Iranian funding, training, and weaponry. Their ongoing civil war against Yemen’s Sunni-majority government has displaced over 4 million people and created what the U.N. once called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Since late 2023, the Houthis have targeted commercial ships in the Red Sea, turning the Suez Canal — a trade route that handles 12% of global commerce — into a war zone. More than 100 attacks on shipping vessels since November have forced companies like Maersk to reroute, costing the global economy billions in total losses.

Then there’s Hezbollah, one of Iran’s most powerful and dangerous proxies. Formed in the 1980s in response to Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon, Hezbollah wields more power in Lebanon than the government itself. The group effectively took control of the country in 2020, and with an arsenal of more than 150,000 rockets, it poses a constant threat to Israel’s northern border.

RELATED: DOD reveals stunning new details following Trump's attack on Iran

  Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

In Syria, Iran propped up the brutal Assad regime — a Shia-Alawite minority ruling over a Sunni majority — with militias, weapons, and intelligence. Iran’s efforts helped Assad stay in power through 13 years of civil war that has killed more than 500,000 people and displaced over 12 million.

Even Hamas, a Sunni terrorist group, receives Iranian support — not because of shared theology, but because of shared enemies. Iran funnels cash and weapons to Hamas under the guise of humanitarian aid, often routed through NGOs and U.N. agencies. The October 7 massacre of Israeli civilians was the culmination of Iran’s decades-long investment in Hamas’ terror infrastructure.

These are not isolated insurgencies. They are coordinated arms of the same regime — a regime that has finally grown vulnerable.

Iran is unraveling

Prior to the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities last weekend, Israel, with quiet support from regional players, had already begun dismantling Tehran’s web of influence.

In the aftermath of the October 7 attacks, Israel has severely degraded Hamas’ capabilities in Gaza. Hezbollah has largely retreated from southern Lebanon. Syrian opposition forces — backed by Sunni-majority Turkey and Israel — overthrew the Assad regime. Even the Houthis, while still active, are increasingly cut off from Iranian resupply and face growing international pushback.

Trump’s strategy is not a repeat of Bush’s “shock and awe.” It’s a two-pronged offensive — diplomatic and deterrent — that recognizes the new regional order.

The first prong is diplomacy. Trump has steadily strengthened ties with Iran’s Sunni rivals, particularly Saudi Arabia. While critics scoffed at Trump’s investment in the Abraham Accords and Gulf partnerships, those alliances now provide a bulwark against Iranian aggression. Trump’s recent meetings with Arab leaders, coupled with trillions of dollars in investment and tech cooperation, have strengthened America’s foothold in the region — and weakened Tehran’s.

In Syria, Trump’s engagement with the country’s transitional government — under close watch by human rights groups — signals a shift away from Iranian and Russian influence. If Syria falls out of Iran’s orbit, it will be the regime’s most significant strategic loss in a decade.

Then came the second prong: deterrence. After five fruitless rounds of nuclear negotiations, Iran had to choose: Disarm or wait for Israel to strike. If the latter, then perhaps its allies would rally to arms while the regime could maintain its honor.

The mullahs miscalculated. With weakened proxies, overthrown regional allies, and a preoccupied Russia, Iran resorted to threats over disarmament — warranting U.S. intervention.

The strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure weren’t an opening salvo in a new war; they were a final warning. As the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board noted, “Mr. Trump gave Iran every chance to resolve this peacefully. ... Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wanted a bomb more than peace."

Iran has begun to retaliate, launching strikes against U.S. bases in Iraq and Qatar on Monday. Maybe the retaliations will expand deeper into its Sunni neighborhood. Unlike previous decades, however, Iran no longer enjoys a regional support network strong enough to wage a multifront war. Russia, bogged down in Ukraine, has no capacity to assist. China, facing economic turmoil, is unlikely to risk its global partnerships. And the Arab world — long terrorized by Iran’s militias — is unlikely to intervene on its behalf.

An end to the ‘forever war’

Instead of plunging America into another endless conflict, Trump may have done the opposite and broken the cycle. By incapacitating Iran’s proxies, isolating the regime diplomatically, and demonstrating military resolve, he’s created a narrow but real path toward a more stable Middle East.

We’re not entering a forever war. We may finally be exiting one. Trump has proven to be the least interventionist president in recent decades, and by standing firm against Iran, he has proven that his anti-interventionism actually means something — it has teeth, and it’s not afraid to bite.