With Iran Strike against Israel Looming, Middle East Braces for Broader War

Iran is warning that a major attack on Israel is imminent in the next “24 to 48 hours,” according to a Monday Wall Street Journal report. The threat comes days after the Islamist regime promised retaliation against the Jewish state over the deaths of two terrorist leaders, one of which Israel has taken responsibility for. Experts say the continued Middle East violence centered around Iran and its terrorist proxies is the result of a failed appeasement strategy being carried out by the Biden-Harris administration.

The latest chapter in Israel’s ongoing war against terrorism comes in the wake of a rocket strike that killed 12 children on a soccer field in northern Israel last week. After Israel’s foreign ministry remarked that the attack attributed to Hezbollah had “crossed all red lines,” senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh were both killed in separate attacks days later. On Monday, an Iranian foreign minister declared that the regime’s response to the attacks would be “definitive and decisive.” Iran has long been known to be the primary financial and military backer of the Hezbollah and Hamas terrorist groups.

Meanwhile, U.S. and U.K. officials urged their citizens to flee Lebanon Sunday as fears mounted of a widespread war breaking out in the region. In addition, an international air defense coalition is reportedly forming in order to deter a potential Iranian airstrike, similar to the coalition that helped the Jewish state repel the April 13 attack that the regime carried out with hundreds of missiles and drones. On Friday, the U.S. also ordered additional military assets to the region, including an F-22 fighter squadron.

Over the weekend, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman joined “This Week on the Hill” from Israel to provide context to the widening conflict, noting that Hezbollah has been continually attacking Israel from the north with “daily rocket fire” ever since Hamas’s October 7 massacre of 1,200 Israelis.

“They had to evacuate 80,000 Israeli citizens living in northern Israel who are now refugees in their own country,” he reported. “And it’s just been nonstop. And of course, this attack on the 12 kids playing soccer was perhaps the worst of it all, but it’s been pretty bad since. And Israel’s response, frankly, was pretty focused and daring and effective. They killed the number two guy in Hezbollah, the guy who authorized this attack. … [T]his is the same guy who 40 years ago, participated in the murder of 241 Marines in Beirut. … [Y]ou would think [Israel would] get a … medal for this, but instead they’re gearing up for a battle.”

Friedman went on to contend that as a result of the Biden-Harris administration’s attempts to pacify Iran through appeasement, the Islamist regime’s wealth and military might has grown exponentially.

“[W]hen [the Trump administration] left office in 2020, Iran was broke and their nuclear program had not advanced,” he observed. “Even though people said that once Trump gets out of the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action], Iran’s going to run to a nuke. They didn’t. Only after Biden took office did they really accelerate the enrichment of uranium. Trump killed Qassem Soleimani, who was the architect of all of this. And since then, over the last three and a half years, Iran has gone from under $200 billion GDP to over $400 billion, more than doubled their GDP in just three and a half years. And they’ve taken all that money, and they built ballistic missiles. They advanced their nuclear campaign. They funded terrorists throughout the world. They are not only the chief state sponsor of terrorism, but the primary state sponsor of terrorism. And Israel is the tip of the spear.”

Friedman continued, “[M]ake no mistake, America is in the line of fire as well. And Netanyahu, I take him at his word when he says that he will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. Biden said that many times, but there’s been absolutely no indication that he means what he says.”

The former ambassador to Israel further argued that the Biden-Harris administration has seemingly resigned itself to a nuclear-capable Iran.

“[T]hese are the same people who worked for Obama,” he pointed out. “They deeply believe that the road to Middle East peace runs through Iran, runs through appeasing Iran, placating Iran. They are petrified of offending the mullahs there. And they’ve done absolutely nothing to frighten Iran or to give them any cause to rethink the pace at which they’re developing nuclear weapons. I think it’s intentional. I think they actually are coming to the point where they accept the idea of a nuclear Iran. And I think not only is Israel unable to live with that, but neither are the moderate Sunni nations, the Saudis, the Emiratis. And frankly, America shouldn’t be willing to live with it either.”

Friedman concluded by insisting that the strength displayed by the U.S. against Iran during the Trump administration is the only effective way of containing the Islamist regime.

“Iran is a threat to everyone,” he underscored. “And this is something which Trump recognized. And frankly, the progress he made with the Abraham Accords was driven in large part because of the strength we showed against Iran. We were able to show strength against the common enemy of all the moderate Middle East nations. I mean, the only way to stabilize the Middle East is by placing maximum pressure on Iran. Trump will do that the day after he gets into office. Those sanctions will return. But right now, we’re in a very dangerous place.”