Once again, Israel’s decisive win has boosted America too.
By GIL TROY |
The chaos in Gaza is intensifying, exposing Hamas’s true evil face to anyone who lives in the fact-based universe. Violating the ceasefire from the get-go, the terror group is doling out the dead bodies of innocent Israelis, making me wonder why we released any Palestinian prisoners without securing all bodies first.
And, beware, Israel has sometimes won wars while losing the peace. Still, while addressing the Knesset, US President Donald Trump correctly called the Gaza breakthrough “an incredible triumph for Israel and the world.” Once again, Israel’s victory is America’s victory, too.
Trump celebrated Washington’s deep partnership with Jerusalem, saying, “We have stood together through thick and thin… We have built industries together, we have made discoveries together, we have confronted evil together.” And, while riffing about how America has “the best weapons in the world,” Trump highlighted Israel’s added value, saying: “It also takes people that know how to use them, and you obviously used them very well.”
Other allies depend on America to fight for them, understanding that it could save the world; Israel fights independently, defending itself and bolstering the United States, while saving the world along the way too.
Taking out Iran and its proxiesIn his foreign policy summation last January, outgoing US president Joe Biden identified some dimensions of the joint win that were even clear by then. “Did you ever think we would be where we are with Iran at this moment?” Biden wondered. “Iran’s air defenses are in shambles. Their main proxy, Hezbollah, is badly wounded…. And if you want more evidence that we’ve seriously weakened Iran and Russia, just take a look at Syria.”
While briefly acknowledging that “Israel did plenty of damage to Iran and its proxies,” Biden seemingly forgot that those gains came because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defied him.
Since then, Tehran has been weakened exponentially more, thanks to Israel’s 12-day war culminating with America’s bunker-busting, nuclear-program-restraining intervention.
Iran invested billions over the decades in trying to destroy the Little Satan – Israel – intending to hurt the Big Satan – the United States. Thanks to this two-year war, the Islamic Republic’s planned Ring of Fire engulfing Israel, while not extinguished, has been smothered.
That’s why claims that last year’s deal was the same as this deal are absurd; the terms differed, the context changed, and Hamas’s external support imploded, which explains why it freed all 20 living hostages without Israel withdrawing from half of Gaza.
IDF reflects best of US weaponryMuch of the IDF victory reflects the superiority of America’s “enormous” weapons and cutting-edge strategies, adapted and then implemented by Israelis in tough, defining battles. They include F-15, F-16, and F-35 fighter aircraft; Apache, Black Hawk, and CH-53K transport helicopters; 155 mm artillery shells; and extraordinary intelligence-sharing.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s many battlefronts – on sea, in the air, on the ground, and online – have served as an intimidating showcase of American military might and an extraordinary laboratory for game-changing improvements. US generals have watched the IDF fight in cities and tunnels effectively, losing 470 soldiers in the Gaza ground offensive that many predicted would cost thousands of Israeli lives.
For all the criticism Israel has endured, and despite the heartbreak, the IDF ratio of two or three civilians for every Hamas terrorist killed represents a new moral standard in urban warfare. Jerusalem pioneered new techniques to minimize civilian damage when terrorists hide behind them. In repelling Iran’s ICBM attacks and over 37,500 rocket attacks, which sent citizens in 1,348 different towns scrambling for shelter 61,151 times, Israel – again with US help and technology – taught the world how to defend a small, densely populated area against massive bombardments.
These and many other military breakthroughs have been accompanied by AI innovations, medical improvisations, and other bursts of hi-tech creativity that will be saving American lives in hospitals and battlefields for years to come.
Meanwhile, while projecting sheer power in a region that respects force and to a world that was starting to doubt the United States’ fortitude, Washington has triumphed diplomatically too. Even with more details to work out, Trump’s sledgehammer diplomacy yielded remarkable results, including corralling the Qataris and Turks. With Hamas crushed, the hostages freed, Israel’s new security perimeter, and outsiders slated to run Gaza, this ceasefire deal has helped Israel achieve its war aims, restoring deterrence on all its borders.
The DIY allyIsrael’s post-October 7 war has again spotlighted the unique mutuality fueling the two-way US-Israel alliance. Since the 1898 Spanish-American War, Washington has repeatedly felt compelled to fight wars worldwide to save the world, which has often strengthened America’s position, too.
By contrast, Israel has always been the US’s only DIY – Do it Yourself – ally. The Jewish state usually fights alone, using American technology and know-how, improving it, and, by winning, bolstering Washington’s position militarily and diplomatically. In 1967 and 1973, Israel defeated Soviet-trained and armed Arab troops, enhancing the free world’s defense posture during the Cold War.
After the nine-year Iraqi standoff and the 20-year Afghanistan debacle, few believed democracies could win overwhelming victories in the war on terror. Yet, despite all the pressuring, demonizing, and naysaying, Israel just did it again, in only two years.
Years ago, political commentator George Will quipped that Israel did a terrible thing in 1967; it won, just as many Western elites fell in love with losers.
Today, as Israelis celebrate the return of the 20 living hostages and hope for every body back, including that of Hadar Goldin, which has been in Gaza since 2014, it has once again disappointed the woke-errati and mask-ifada crowd. Israel showed it still knows how to fight hard and win a war. And, once again, Israel’s decisive win has boosted America too.
The writer has written eight books on American presidential history. Last year he published To Resist the Academic Intifada: Letters to My Students on Defending the Zionist Dream and The Essential Guide to October 7th and Its Aftermath. His latest e-book, The Essential Guide to Zionism, Anti-Zionism, Antisemitism, and Jew-Hatred, can be downloaded on the Jewish People Policy Institute’s website.
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