A satellite image shows airstrike craters over the underground centrifuge halls of the Natanz Enrichment Facility, following US airstrikes amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Natanz County, Iran, June 22, 2025. Photo: Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS

US and Israeli leaders are taking a well-deserved victory lap after their historic achievements against Iran. While visiting the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu correctly observed the two countries’ successes “changed the face of the Middle East.” Yet vigilance is still required.

Neither country can afford to chalk one up in the win column and pivot elsewhere. Despite the immense damage to its nuclear facilities — and missile, conventional military, and proxy efforts — Iran is down, but not out. To ensure Iran does not rebuild, the United States and Israel should signal their will and capacity to further punish Iran militarily if needed, while pursuing an intensive economic and diplomatic pressure campaign against it.

Operation Midnight Hammer, the monumental US strike campaign which Secretary of State Marco Rubio rightly called the stuff of “science fiction,” severely impeded Iran’s nuclear progress. American officials estimate its nuclear program was potentially delayed by two years. However, Iran could have spirited away enriched uranium stocks before the strikes, or maintain them at covert undeclared sites.

Iran, on July 2, further limited the world’s already grainy picture into its nuclear status, suspending cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) — just days after the IAEA chief said 900 pounds of enriched uranium remain unaccounted for.

Even in the best-case scenario, Iran is a diminished but sizable threat. While Israel eliminated numerous Iranian launchers and ballistic missiles, hundreds remain capable of striking US partners and personnel regionally. Iran’s progress towards long-range strike capability is also concerning. Years of Iranian development of space launch vehicles, as a US official observed, isn’t for Iran “to go to the moon” but rather “to build an [intercontinental ballistic missile] so they can one day put a warhead on it.”

Historically, after major setbacks to their nuclear programs, nuclear-threshold states have either been deterred from external aggression — like Syria in 2007 — or escalated it to compensate. Tehran may opt for the latter category — and, indeed, its Houthi surrogates have significantly ramped up their attacks on Israel and commercial ships in the weeks since the war concluded. Iran itself, forced to slow its nuclear progress under US pressure in 2003, began facilitating terrorist attacks on American troops in neighboring Iraq. After Israeli strikes devastated its burgeoning nuclear program in 1981, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq escalated its war against Iran by deploying chemical weapons, then in 1991 invaded Kuwait and tried to invade Saudi Arabia. Two years after an American-led coalition foiled its expansionist plans, Iraq tried to kill former President George H.W. Bush.

Iran cannot be allowed to follow in these baleful footsteps. The United States must force the regime to make a choice: either swallow the poison chalice and abandon its decades long malign projects, or taste more of the same bitter medicine Israel and America administered last month. This is particularly vital in the near-term, before Iran can restore its vanquished air defenses or acquire new ones — rendering future strikes against it riskier and potentially costlier.

US officials must clearly articulate how the Iranian regime can avoid further scathing. A recent report published by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) laid out the criteria that should trigger unilateral or bilateral strikes. These include indications that Iran is rebuilding strategic air defenses, long-range missiles, or missile launchers; utilizing enriched uranium or nuclear equipment; operating secret nuclear sites; or acquiring military or nuclear capabilities from abroad.

Ideally, though, the threat of such repeated military strikes would convince Iran to agree to a new agreement to give up its nuclear and missile programs. Iran’s unprecedented vulnerability gives President Trump a strategic opening to craft a deal Iran can’t refuse, though one with airtight restrictions. These include Iran forfeiting all nuclear and nuclear-adjacent capabilities, including nuclear-capable missiles and missile production sites, and conceding to a total embargo on its nuclear and military imports and exports. Iran’s continued compliance with its Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) obligations and IAEA inspections should be non-negotiable — and said inspections made unprecedentedly intrusive.

Even if a good deal proves elusive, the United States should continue solidifying its leverage over, and deterrence against, the Iranian regime. Sensible measures include adopting an enhanced economic pressure campaign and encouraging European allies to snapback United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions on Iran. An agreement declaring Washington backs future Israeli action in Iran under certain circumstances, like the one inked in December 2024 concerning Hezbollah in Lebanon, would also boost leverage.

Crucially, the United States and Israel must display their willingness and capability to resume strikes at a moment’s notice. The United States should expeditiously provide Israel with aerial refuelers, multirole combat jets, precision munitions, and kinetic interceptors. US warplanes also should either conduct overflights, or publicly back Israeli overflights, to reaffirm both nations’ freedom of action in Iranian skies.

The United States and Israel, having achieved historic success by working in concert on the battlefield, must maintain momentum and demonstrate to Iran and the world their continued resolve. US leaders must vow consequences if Iran tries to reconstitute its missile, nuclear, and proxy terror programs — and make good on their word.

RADM Paul Becker, USN (ret.) is former Director of Intelligence (J2) for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a participant in the Jewish Institute for National Security of America’s (JINSA) 2024 Generals and Admirals Program, and a member of JINSA’s Board of Advisors.

Yoni Tobin is a senior policy analyst at JINSA.

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Guy Sasson celebrates with an Israeli flag after winning bronze in the Paris 2024 Paralympics – Wheelchair Tennis – Men’s Quad Singles match on Sept. 5, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

Israeli para-athlete Guy Sasson and his Dutch partner Niels Vink won the Wimbledon quad wheelchair doubles tournament on Saturday, and in his post-game remarks, Sasson quoted the Torah and stated in Hebrew “Am Israel Chai” (“Long Live Israel”).

The duo beat South African Donald Ramphadi and Gregory Slade of Great Britain, sealing a 6-0, 6-2 victory in one hour and five minutes. Saturday’s win was Sasson’s first Wimbledon doubles victory. He and Vink won in the French Open (Roland-Garros) earlier this summer, and Sasson, 45, won the Australian Open in 2023 with Ramphadi.

Speaking live on BBC following the match, Sasson cited a Torah verse that references Operation Rising Lion, the name given to Israel’s large-scale military operation in Iran. The Olympic medalist said: “It’s a special sentence in Hebrew from the Bible: ‘The people shall rise as a great lion, and lift themself like as a young lion.’ Am Israel Chai. So, thank you very much and be strong.”

The quote is from the Book of Numbers 23:24. The full verse reads: “Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, And drink the blood of the slain.”

Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu wrote part of the Torah verse on a note that he placed in Jerusalem’s Western Wall in June mere hours before the launch of Operation Rising Lion.

Sasson is currently ranked 3rd in the world in singles and doubles. He is paralyzed from the knees down following a snowboarding accident in France in 2015. He won a bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

Saturday’s win gave Vink his 10th Quad Grand Slam title. “I’m very happy to win our first Wimbledon title together – this is my fourth straight Wimbledon title in a row, so it’s very special for me,” Vink said.

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Israel’s military displays an Iranian ballistic missile which they retrieved from the Dead Sea after Iran launched drones and missiles towards Israel, at Julis military base, in southern Israel, April 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen

As sirens wailed across Israel for what felt like the hundredth time in two weeks, I found myself once again in a painful situation.

Still recovering from lower abdominal surgery, I could barely move without wincing, yet here I was, standing in the protected room in our apartment, our “bomb shelter,” unable to sit or lie down. I was surrounded by my wife, two children, and our three restless dogs.

“Abba, how long do we need to stay here this time?” my youngest asked, eyes wide with a mixture of frustration that no child should have to experience. Outside, somewhere in the skies above Jerusalem, Iran’s ballistic missiles aimed at causing as much harm as possible to Israel’s population centers were being intercepted. Some weren’t.

The physical pain from my surgery was palpable, but it paled in comparison to watching my family endure this trauma. My wife, who has struggled with anxiety ever since her recovery from breast cancer, which she contracted right after the coronavirus pandemic died down in 2022, was trying her best to remain calm. My children alternated between nervous questions, silence, and their own stoic resilience, which has grown and become ingrained since the rocket and missile barrages started in our area on October 7th, 2023. Yet amid this chaos, I found myself filled with a type of serenity, it is the same serenity that I often feel in times of distress, which not only baffles my wife but often frustrates her as well. It is a serenity of faith.

When a Canadian news reporter from CTV contacted me about sharing my experience as an expat living in a war zone, I spoke to him from my recovery bed between shelter runs. “How are you coping with the fear?” he asked, seemingly surprised by my composure.

“There is fear,” I admitted, “but there is also faith.”

I don’t have blind optimism or live in denial of danger. I’m a medical first responder, and I’ve seen firsthand what can happen when disaster strikes. I know the danger posed by the rockets that Hamas fired at Israel for years, and how much more danger there is from the barrage of ballistic missiles fired at Israel by the Houthis in Yemen and from Iran. Rather, I possess a deep understanding, anchored in my faith in God’s providence. This same faith has anchored Jewish families through millennia of persecution and uncertainty: our lives rest in God’s hands, not our own. The missiles falling around us weren’t random events but part of a larger plan that has sustained our people since Abraham.

My work as a first responder has only ever strengthened this faith. At any given medical emergency that I respond to, whether it be traumatic in origin or strictly medical, there is only so much that human intervention can accomplish; we can work miracles, but we recognize that those miracles will only come if God wills it. We can only do so much; the rest lies in the hands of the almighty.

“Hashem protects us, and our soldiers protect us,” I told my children each time we huddled in that cramped shelter. Not as a hollow promise that no harm would come, but as a reminder that whatever happened, safety or struggle, pain or a return to routine, we were never truly alone or helpless.

In Jewish tradition, we’re taught that even in our darkest moments, we have agency through prayer and the fulfillment of God’s commandments (Mitzvot). While I couldn’t physically defend my family or stop the missiles, I could recite prayers with my children, out loud or even silently. We could pray for the soldiers defending us and for peace to prevail. We could support each other.

My son once asked why I wasn’t afraid. I explained that fear comes from feeling powerless and isolated. “But we are never powerless because we can always pray,” I told him. “And we are never alone because (God) Hashem is always with us, and we have each other.”

These weren’t just comforting words; they were essential truths that psychiatrists recognize as crucial for preventing trauma. As part of my work as a first responder, I am a member of the Psychotrauma and Crisis Response team which is trained to provide psychological first aid at the scenes of acute medical emergencies. One of the first lessons that we are taught is that acute stress reactions, which can develop into post-traumatic stress disorder, occur largely when people feel utterly helpless and completely alone. Faith directly counteracts both feelings.

During one particularly long shelter stay, my son noticed I was struggling to remain standing through the pain. “Abba, (Father), how are you feeling?” he asked innocently.

I thought carefully before answering. “There are people facing much harder challenges right now. Our soldiers, families who’ve lost loved ones. I know that I am in pain, but I know that others are in more pain. Sorrow will not help my spirit, but gratitude might.”

The message to my son wasn’t about suppressing feelings, but rather contextualizing our suffering and being thankful for what we have. We have each other. We have our pets, who also provide solace and comfort. We have a great community that helped us through the ordeal, as many of our neighbors brought us meals during my recovery period, even amid the war, and neighbors offered their homes with backyards and trampolines for our children to play on between air raid alerts. There was a lot to be thankful for, and focusing on that helps get one through traumatic moments. In the past, I’ve helped others; now it was my turn to be on the receiving end for a bit, and people came through to help.

Jews have always found meaning in hardship by way of the community supporting one another. Each Passover, we gather in families and groups to recount our ancestors’ slavery not just to remember suffering, but to celebrate redemption. Each Tisha B’Av, we mourn the destruction of our Temples while affirming our enduring covenant.

In those moments in the shelter, I saw my children absorbing these lessons. We played games, read books, played with the dogs, and yes, they watched some videos as well. We weren’t focused on just surviving; we were together and finding purpose through being with others.

Now that a ceasefire has gone into effect, I believe my children will be stronger, I believe my family, and many other families, have emerged from this conflict stronger. My children, who are both younger than 10, have lived through the COVID pandemic, a parent having and surviving cancer, and now an elongated war that has gone on for almost two years. This is not the childhood I had, nor one that I would ever dream of for my children. But I count my blessings, of which there are many. God has protected us throughout, we are safe, and I am very excited to see just how strong and resilient my children grow up to be. If this is what the world has thrown at us, before they are 10 years old, I can only imagine the strength that they are gleaning from this. I believe that we are developing a resilience that transcends this war, a spiritual fortitude rooted in millennia of Jewish wisdom, and I hope to help entrench that resilience in my children. I believe that this is why, in spite of the war, Israel is one of the happiest countries on earth.

As we navigate these uncertain days, I’m reminded of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov’s timeless words: “The whole world is a very narrow bridge, and the main thing is not to fear at all.”

Faith doesn’t eliminate the narrow bridge of danger and uncertainty. It gives us the courage to cross it together, one step at a time, even when those steps are painful. And in teaching our children to walk this bridge with faith rather than fear, we give them a gift more valuable than physical safety alone; we give them the spiritual resilience that has sustained our people through every trial and tribulation.

Raphael Poch is the Director of PR and Communications for Aish, a Jewish Educational Institute that works to share Jewish Wisdom to help people live more fulfilled lives. He is also a volunteer EMT with United Hatzalah of Israel and serves as a member of the organization’s Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit and has been dispatched to several disaster zones around the world. He lives in Efrat with his family. 

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