The Israeli defense establishment realized as early as the night between October 6 and October 7, 2023, that something was stirring in Gaza. They knew, yet they did nothing. The paralyzing fear was “miscalculation”: the worry that if the IDF moved forces, Hamas would interpret it as an escalation, fighting would ignite, and the coveted “quiet” would be shattered.
This was Israel’s state of mind in 2021. The head of the Shin Bet compared it to a patient whose vital signs were all in decline. When a person fails to exercise their muscles for an extended period, they become a couch potato. Decades of containment, restraint, and forbearance caused Israel to appear more vulnerable than ever in the eyes of its enemies.
Two and a half years later, Israel stands at the pinnacle of its power in the Middle East. This transformation occurred only after it shed every rule it had gradually adopted since the 1980s.
While the official name of the military is the “Israel Defense Forces,” its most impressive achievements have historically been recorded during preemptive strikes, the kind not seen for decades. The army had been forced into cumbersome urban warfare against terror groups; the leadership avoided retaliating against missiles fired at its territory by the ruler of Iraq, and later by Hezbollah and Hamas. All of this ended when the terrible price of that policy was revealed on October 7th.
These are the new rules of the game:
First, the enemy exists in exactly two states: the pursuer or the pursued. For years, Israel shied away from targeted assassinations and proactive operations, granting terror leaders and Iranian officials the time and peace of mind to plot against it. The reality is the exact opposite: when they are busy running for their lives, they have no time to plan how to take ours. There is a sense of poetic justice in the fact that Khamenei, the man behind the assassination attempts on Trump and Netanyahu in the summer of 2024, was eliminated by them in the winter of 2026.
Second, when an enemy announces their intention to destroy you, believe them. It isn’t election rhetoric (since there are no elections); it isn’t lip service or empty words. “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” are not mere slogans for the town square—they are operational blueprints.
Third, ignoring small security problems invites larger ones. Israel fled Gaza because of IEDs and shooting attacks, only to receive two commando divisions and the world’s largest tunnel network. It withdrew from Lebanon because it couldn’t stomach the cost of 20 fallen soldiers a year; in exchange, Hezbollah entrenched itself on the border with a missile arsenal rivaled by few global powers.
Fourth, there is no true modus vivendi with terror organizations. There is no way to soothe murderous ambitions through “gentleman’s agreements,” international guarantees, or economic incentives. Israel tried this in Gaza, and the result was catastrophic.
Fifth, when you do respond, abandon the “equation” method. For years, the enemy fired rockets and Israel replied with “proportional” force. This normalized the legitimacy of firing on civilians, kidnapping, and invasion. That changed after October 7th. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah thought he was still playing by the old rules, launching a few rockets daily. It ended with his elimination, the decapitation of his organization’s leadership, and the destruction of 80 percent of their missile stockpile.
Sixth, when you are the strong side, the enemy is the one who should fear a miscalculation, not you.
Finally, and most importantly: Fundamentalists always accumulate weapons to use them, not to deter. For years, Israel ignored the vast ammunition depots in Gaza and Lebanon under the assumption they would simply “rust away.” They didn’t.
All these lessons were fully applied in the operation launched this Saturday. Israel simply cannot accept the continued existence of thousands of ballistic missiles and production facilities, where every launch sends half the country into shelters and threatens mass casualty events. It cannot tolerate a regime that continues, even today, to fund its greatest enemies with billions of dollars annually.
President Trump’s decision to strike Iran alongside Israel proves that good ideas are infectious. Obama’s America truly believed the Iranians could be appeased with economic benefits. Clinton’s America made peace with a violent North Korea and received a nuclear North Korea in return. Biden’s America pushed for agreements that would have left Hamas as the sovereign ruler of the entire Gaza Strip.
Contrary to the isolationist instincts often attributed to the MAGA movement, Trump understood perfectly that Iran is a danger to regional peace, and by extension, world peace. The Ayatollahs’ criminal attacks on the peaceful Gulf States and Cyprus serve as a grim testament to what they would have done had they been allowed to develop nuclear weapons. Above all, this is the one war that will save us from the necessity of many others. The entire world now sees what happens to those who spent 47 years shouting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” only to suddenly discover that America and Israel were finally listening—and taking notes.
