This is what 'Never Again' looks like.
For decades, the West has played whack-a-mole with Iran, hoping that diplomacy, sanctions, or deals could contain the threat. But Israel lives in the real world, not in international conference rooms.
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For some time, the world thought Israel had lost its edge.
After the shock and devastation of October 7th — when Hamas and other terrorists stormed into Israeli communities, slaughtering 1,200 people and kidnapping over 250 more, in a single day — many wondered if the Jewish state had been weakened beyond repair.
Pundits questioned its deterrence. Enemies gloated. Even allies whispered doubts. How could the vaunted Israeli defense machine have been caught off guard?
Today, Israel answered them not with words, but with warplanes. At least 200 of them.
In the early hours of Friday morning, the Jewish state launched a daring and devastating strike deep inside Iran, targeting the regime’s nuclear infrastructure, elite military compounds, missile bases, and key leadership figures. The operation was so complex, so secretive, and so precise that it stunned observers and adversaries alike.
A military source said that “this is the first time that Israeli planes have flown to such a depth and such a wide area.”
Israel spent years preparing for the operation against Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, including building a drone base inside Iran and smuggling precision weapons systems and commandos into the country.
According to an Israeli official, Mossad agents set up a drone base on Iranian soil near Tehran. The drones were activated overnight, striking surface-to-surface missile launchers aimed at Israel.
In addition, vehicles carrying weapons systems were smuggled into Iran. These systems took out Iran’s air defenses and gave Israeli planes air supremacy and freedom of action over Iran.
The third covert effort was Mossad commandos deploying precision missiles near anti-aircraft sites in central Iran.
In doing so, Israel eliminated the three most senior military commanders of the Iranian regime: Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri, his deputy Gholam Ali Rashid, and Commander of the Revolutionary Guards Hossein Salami.
This is the same Hossein Salami who just yesterday threatened Israel, saying: “The enemy threatens us from time to time, but we are ready for all scenarios. We warn the enemy not to make any mistake and to think carefully about the consequences of his actions. We are ready to deal with any war at any level.”
How ready he was.
And Iran’s supposed readiness? They came back with flying lawnmowers.
Hours after Israel’s initial attacks, Tehran launched a wave of approximately 100 drones — slow-moving, easily detectable, and largely intercepted or neutralized before reaching their targets. It was the geopolitical equivalent of a toddler throwing Legos at a tank.
This wasn’t the long-promised, all-out “fire and fury” Iran vowed it would unleash on the “Zionist entity.” This was a regime caught completely off guard, struggling to patch its pride while the rest of the world and even its allies watched nervously, wondering how much more humiliation Tehran can absorb before it either escalates recklessly or implodes from within.
The contrast couldn’t be more drastic: Israel sent 200 jets, Iran sent 100 drones. One was a decisive act of preemptive defense, the other was a tantrum. And deep down, everyone knows it.
According to Israeli security chiefs, Iran’s nuclear program crossed a red line: an existential threat to Israel’s survival. In a televised address to the nation, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir declared the situation had “reached the point of no return.”
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, in a prerecorded video issued while the attack was underway, confirmed that Iran had amassed enough enriched uranium for nine nuclear weapons.
Let that sink in: nine.
For more than 20 years, Israeli leaders have warned about Iran’s nuclear ambitions. They begged, pleaded, lobbied, and — when necessary — sabotaged Iran’s progress through cyberattacks, covert operations, and assassinations. But this was different. This was full-on, high-stakes, no-holds-barred military action.
Israel’s security cabinet, meeting Thursday evening under the guise of discussing Gaza hostage negotiations, unanimously approved the strike after signing a “Shomer Sod” secrecy agreement. In the days leading up to the attack, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office executed a masterclass in strategic deception.
First, Netanyahu’s aides told reporters that he was going to northern Israel for a family holiday this weekend and attending his son’s wedding early next week. Then they claimed that senior Israeli officials were heading to Washington, D.C. on Friday (today) for fake “Iran-U.S. nuclear talks in Oman.” And they also leaked stories of a false rift between Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump, further lowering Iranian alert levels.
Then, when the enemy was fast asleep, Israel struck.
In under 10 minutes, Iran’s dream of regional nuclear dominance suffered the kind of wake-up call that only Israel can deliver. “What we did to Hezbollah in 10 days,” one Israeli defense official said, “we did to Iran in 10 minutes.”
This wasn’t a video game strike. This wasn’t a theoretical drill. It was the real thing, with the highest imaginable stakes. Had the mission failed — had Israeli aircraft been shot down, had Iran’s nuclear facilities gone untouched, had the regime retaliated with full-scale war — the consequences would have been catastrophic.
Israel would have been politically isolated, even from its closest allies. Diplomatic support from the United States, Europe, and emerging Arab partners could have collapsed overnight. International bodies would have condemned Israel with feverish intensity. Iran would have spun the narrative into victimhood, gaining sympathy from the very powers that should have stood against it.
And worst of all: Iran would have been emboldened. With nine bombs’ worth of enriched uranium and a proven ability to outlast Israeli aggression, the message to Tehran and the entire region would have been clear: Israel can’t stop us.
That’s the uncanny courage we’re talking about here. Israel didn’t act because it was guaranteed to win. It acted because it had no other option. Knowing that failure could mean diplomatic collapse, regional war, and global backlash — Israel did it anyway.
Of course, the Western world has had every opportunity to prevent this moment. But when it came to stopping Iran (the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, a regime that publicly calls for Israel’s destruction and chants “Death to America”), the West mostly chose appeasement.
In 2012, even former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, hardly a Right-wing hawk, implored the Obama administration to strike Iran while it still could: “One hour of bombing, and it’s over,” he said. “Nothing in Iran’s arsenal can stop you.”
But the West blinked. Again.
So Israel did what it always does when history demands courage: It acted.
As expected, Arab nations were quick to perform their obligatory outrage. Saudi Arabia, still jockeying for influence in the Islamic world and careful not to enrage the Arab street, issued a strongly worded statement:
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expresses its strong condemnation and denunciation of the blatant Israeli aggressions against the brotherly Islamic Republic of Iran, which undermine its sovereignty and security and constitute a clear violation of international laws and norms.”
It’s theater — and everyone knows it.
Behind the scenes, the mood is starkly different. Gulf leaders, particularly in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, are likely watching in quiet awe. Iran is their enemy too. The Sunni Arab world has spent decades fending off Tehran’s expansionism, from the Houthis in Yemen to Hezbollah in Lebanon to militias in Iraq and Syria. These regimes have long feared Iran’s nuclear rise, but lacked the capability or political will to do something about it.
So, when Israel did what they could not, you can bet they took note.
The Saudi condemnation was about optics. But the unspoken truth in the region? The tiny Jewish state just did them a favor.
Israel’s actions may be controversial, but they are never casual. They are calculated, often desperate measures in the face of annihilation. This is a country born in the ashes of genocide, surrounded by enemies, and forced to live by one iron rule: Never again means never again.
Western nations, buffered by oceans and NATO alliances, have the luxury of forgetting this. But in today’s borderless world, where ideology moves faster than armies and TikTok can radicalize faster than textbooks can educate, that luxury is eroding fast.
While the West holds seminars, Israel takes out threats. While diplomats debate, the IDF disables centrifuges. While headlines wring their hands, Israeli pilots change the course of history in the skies over hostile territory.
And when the smoke clears, everyone remembers what they were foolish enough to forget: You don’t mess with the Jews.
Because the Jews — the ones who survived Pharaoh, Rome, the Inquisition, pogroms, Auschwitz, and genocidal Arabs — now have a state, an army, and a very long memory. And when that army decides it’s time to act, it does so not for revenge, but for survival.
If you woke up to headlines of explosions in Iran and are wondering, “Why now?” — the answer is simple: Because Israel had no choice. Because the world still needs reminding. And because some enemies only understand force.
Michael Dickson, Executive Director of the organization Stand With Us in Israel, put it best: “Not all heroes wear capes. Sometimes they wear a Star of David.”
Although the IDF emphasized that the goal of this preemptive attack was to neutralize Iran’s nuclear capabilities, it’s increasingly clear — especially from Netanyahu’s remarks last night as the initial operation was underway — that this was more than just a strike on uranium enrichment sites. This was a direct blow to Iran’s genocidal regime.
In Israel, the calculus is that this operation’s ultimate objective isn’t simply to delay Iran’s nuclear ambitions by a few years. It’s to undermine the very foundation of the regime that built those ambitions. Israel has calculated, rightly, that so long as the Islamic Republic stands, so too will the threat of annihilation.
Hence why Israel moved first, struck hard and, in doing so, may have changed the balance of power in the Middle East.
In the grand arc of Jewish history, from the burning sands of the Exodus, to the collapse of our holy temples in Jerusalem, to the gas chambers of Europe, to the rebirth of Israel in 1948, this moment will be remembered as one of courage, clarity, and consequence.
The world thought Israel was wounded. Instead, it was preparing. The world thought Israel was hesitant. Instead, it was planning. The world thought Israel had lost its edge. Instead, it just reminded everyone exactly who it is: a nation that rises to the moment, a people who do not flinch when survival is on the line.
And when we say it, we mean it. Am YIsrael Chai.
Mazel tov, Israel