If there are any lessons from the deadly days since the Hamas began its ambush of Israel on October 7 it is that Israel’s victory will come at a high price, and that Hamas and other terrorist organizations, including Iran’s…
The United States increasingly is embroiled in a high-stakes standoff with Iran, reminiscent of the early Cold War or pre-World War I gunboat diplomacy. Last week, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian addressed the U.N. General Assembly and walked right over President…
As these lines are being written, the war is ongoing and may yet intensify. It is perhaps too early to posit conclusive lessons at this stage. Therefore, I would qualify all of the findings below by suggesting that they must…
For nearly two decades, Israel has eschewed making strategic choices in dealing with the terrorist groups that surround it, relying instead on deterrence to minimize their threat while tolerating their presence. That approach failed on Oct. 7. Currently, Israel appears…
Combat leaders live by a mantra: Mission, troops, equipment. This priority of effort—first, accomplish the mission; second, protect your troops; third, protect your equipment—may be simplistic, but it will frame what the world observes if and when the Israel Defense…
Proportionality is a term commonly invoked to condemn infliction of civilian suffering during war. But just as pervasive is the misunderstanding of how it impacts both the authority to engage in hostilities, and the protection of civilians during hostilities. What…
U.S. college campuses are no longer safe spaces for Jewish students. As proud British Jews and recent expats, we emigrated to the U.S. from northwest London to pursue graduate studies at Harvard University, comforted by the knowledge that America was…
Alongside the human toll exacted in Hamas’s devastating October 7 attack lies another casualty – the US-led effort to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Just days before the attack – with the kingdom’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin…
Addressing Iran and its proxy network comprehensively—eliminating active threats and systematically degrading its ability to plot and coordinate around the world—requires not only Israeli or U.S. action but also a robust international effort. The parallels between Hamas and ISIS became…
War, especially in places as densely populated as Gaza, is awful. No matter how hard military forces try to avoid inflicting death and suffering on civilians, that outcome seems inevitable. But while the rules of war demand that both sides respect the…