Operation Rising Lion Update 6/19
Since June 13, Israel has struck over 1,100 targets, including key nodes of Iran’s military, energy sector, and nuclear program. While regime overthrow is not an explicit Israeli objective, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Iranian people, “if we can help you achieve your freedom, that is a noble and worthy cause.”
However, potential U.S. military involvement in Iran itself—particularly the use of strategic bombers to neutralize the deeply-buried Fordow nuclear facility—remains the ultimate X-factor. President Donald Trump, on June 17, demanded the Iranian regime’s “unconditional surrender.” Asked on June 18 about a possible U.S. strike on Iran, Trump exercised strategic ambiguity, stating, “I may do it. I may not do it. Nobody knows what I’m going to do.” Meanwhile, reports indicate that Iran is seeking an off-ramp from Israel’s punishing campaign.
JINSA hosted a webinar to discuss the latest developments in the conflict and where its trajectory may be headed. The webinar featured JINSA Distinguished Fellow IDF MG (ret.) Yaakov Amidror, Julian & Jenny Josephson Senior Vice President for Israeli Affairs IDF MG (ret.) Yaacov Ayish, JINSA Distinguished Fellow IDF MG (ret.) Amikam Norkin, and JINSA Randi & Charles Wax Senior Fellow John Hannah.
The webinar was moderated by JINSA President and CEO Michael Makovsky, PhD.
IDF MG (ret.) Yaakov Amidror IDF Major General (ret.) Yaakov Amidror is a Gemunder Center for Defense and Strategy Distinguished Fellow. MG Amidror was formerly the National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Israel, as well as the head of the National Security Council, from 2011-2013. During his 36-year career in the IDF, MG Amidror served as Commander of IDF Military Colleges, Military Secretary for the Minister of Defense, Director of the Intelligence Analysis Division, and as Intelligence Officer for the Northern Command. |
IDF MG (ret.) Yaacov Ayish IDF MG (ret.) Yaacov Ayish is the Julian and Jenny Josephson Senior Vice President for Israeli Affairs at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA). MG Ayish served in the IDF for 36 years and retired in 2016, concluding an accomplished career during which he attained the rank of Major General. Throughout his distinguished service, he served in core and operational command positions in the IDF ground forces and in senior command and managerial positions in the IDF General Staff. In his last position, MG Ayish served for four years as Israel’s Defense and Armed Forces Attaché to the United States in Washington, D.C. |
IDF MG (ret.) Amikam Norkin Major General (ret.) Amikam Norkin joined JINSA as a Distinguished Fellow in February 2023. MG Norkin is the Former Commander of the Israeli Air Force and a former member of the Israel Defense Forces General Staff. As the IAF’s Commander, he was responsible for all of the IDF’s aviation operations, including all air and space defense and offense activities, turning the IAF to the IDF’s leading strategic arm and leading this critical organization in a rapidly changing environment with various multiple challenges. |
John Hannah ohn Hannah is the Randi & Charles Wax Senior Fellow at JINSA’s Gemunder Center for Defense and Strategy. John served in senior foreign policy positions for both Democratic and Republican administrations, including as former Vice President Dick Cheney’s National Security Advisor from 2005-2009 and as Vice President Cheney’s Deputy National Security Advisor for the Middle East from 2001-2005. Hannah received his B.A. from Duke University, his J.D. from the Yale Law School, and did graduate work in international relations at Stanford University. |
Michael Makovsky, PhD Michael Makovsky, PhD is President and CEO of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), which he joined in 2013. A U.S. national security expert, he has worked extensively on U.S. policy toward Iran’s nuclear program, Israel, and the broader Middle East, as well as the intersection of international energy markets and politics with U.S. national security. Makovsky has written articles, op-eds and editorials for various publications on U.S. national security issues primarily involving the Middle East as well as energy markets. He is also author of Churchill’s Promised Land (Yale University Press), a diplomatic-intellectual history of Winston Churchill’s complex relationship with Zionism. |