In the aftermath of one of Israel’s border wars with Hamas, a prominent American journalist called me and asked, “I understand what Israel’s tactic is, but what is Israel’s strategy?” My response surprised him. “You don’t understand,” I replied. “Israel’s tactic is our strategy.” I explained that, since our founding in 1948, Israel has had…

Americans. We are allies. Yet our lives exist in different universes. You wake up at 7 a.m., hit snooze, and begin your day. I wake up randomly, to the sudden, psychologically unnerving wailing of an air raid siren. You reach for a coffee to run out the door. I reach for my shoes and run…

On November 5, 2023, less than a month after the largest post-Holocaust massacre of Jews, I wrote an article for Clarity entitled, “A Dirty Harry Moment.” The reference was to an old action movie in which Clinton Eastwood, a detective, confronts a criminal holding a gun to hostage’s head. “Go ahead,” Eastwood grunts, “make my day.” The…

The war with Iran proves once again the importance for Israel to have an American strategic bomber as part of the Israeli Air Force’s aircraft arsenal. Twice, in 2013, during my tenure as Ambassador in Washington, and later, as a Member of Knesset in 2018, I asked the United States to sell us a strategic…

Israel’s Operation Rising Lion in Iran will end in one of two ways. Either the regime in Tehran will implode or President Trump will negotiate a ceasefire. Irrespective, the result must be the same. The Islamic Republic’s empire must fall. For many years now, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, American diplomacy on Iran has…

During the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Golda Meir rejected early ceasefire calls to secure a decisive victory and restore Israel’s deterrence; Now, Netanyahu faces a similar choice in conflict with Iran.   “Peace between Israel and Iran is within reach,” the President of the United States recently declared — another signal that Washington’s backing…

Cyclist passes by the flag of Israel, taped on a hydrant on the east end of the Pearl Street Mall, after a Sunday attack near the courthouse Monday, June 2, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Throughout the day, Monday, June 2, CNN ran the headline, “Dozens shot dead and injured near Gaza aid…

Ein Zivan Vineyard, Golan Heights pictured in 2018. The border to Syria runs only a few hundred meters away (Juergen Schwenkenbecher/AP) President Trump’s decision to lift U.S. sanctions on Syria and recognize the regime of Ahmed al-Sharaa (Abu Mohammad al-Julani) poses serious short- and long-term challenges to Israel. In the short term, it means that…