Opinion

The current war involving Israel and the United States against Iran is the latest in a series of battles involving the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its proxies. Each time Israel went to war, the desired outcome was to “finish the job” and provide the home front with extended periods of peace. Is this an achievable outcome, and what exactly does it mean?

More kicking the can down the road, appeasing Tehran’s nuclear program, missiles and its relentless quest for terror, is not an option. The reality is that the regime must go

(Feb. 28, 2026 / JNS) The strongest argument that President Donald Trump’s political opponents can muster to decry his decision to order American forces to join with Israel to act against Iran is that he is launching a “war of choice,” rather than seeking to avert an imminent threat to American interests or security. Even his sternest critics, such as the editorial page of The New York Times, acknowledged that the government of Iran is not merely a brutal oppressor and a constant threat to the rest of the Middle East as well as to the West, but also combines a “murderous ideology with nuclear ambitions.”

Leading up to the mayoral election last year, many criticisms of how Zohran Mamdani would conduct himself and his office were laid out. One of them was how a Muslim mayor would respond if an Islamist terrorist attack occurred in New York City—the home of the 9/11 attacks. Mamdani himself seemed more troubled by the backlash on Muslims than on the victims of such an attack. Barely two months into his term have passed, and Mamdani was tested on his reaction to such an event, and he failed pitifully.

The legacy of President Donald J. Trump will be one of a leader who took decisive action to topple dictatorships and achieve world peace. He did so in his first term, when he brought China, North Korea, Russia, Iran, and Venezuela to heel merely with the threat of force. Joe Biden, in contrast, essentially showed all these adversaries the neck of America. Cleaning up the mess was harder this time, because these nations know that Trump has only four years. So the action must be far more final.

Throughout recorded history, humankind has lived in near-constant warfare. The Old Testament records a “world war” between five kings and four kings in the time of Abraham. Land was not scarce at that time, and the population of Canaan, Mesopotamia, and Egypt was perhaps a few million. Yet the desire for conquest was great, and a succession of empires fought over the lands which are now Israel and many Arab countries. At those times there was scant diplomacy. Relationships between monarchs were determined by force and cemented by marriage.

Since the acceptance of a tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in October 2025, life in Israel has gradually returned to normal. Israelis, for the most part, no longer go to sleep thinking about their mamad (safe room). Students have returned to their classrooms, and the universities are functioning with mostly full classes. Demonstrations advocating the return of the hostages stopped when the body of Ran Gvili was returned and buried in his birthplace. Despite the drop in tourism and the cost of the war, the economy remains strong, and the shekel is at a 30-year high. Indeed, this is the land of miracles.