As our readers surely know, last week, Israel commenced Operation Rising Lion and has been engaged in that effort ever since. Iran’s response has been to fire ballistic missiles and drones at Israeli population centers. Twenty-four Israelis have been killed; more than 500 have been wounded. All of this takes place as Israel has lost multiple soldiers in recent days fighting in Gaza, where there remain 53 Israeli hostages. 

Israeli Strikes on Iran

Israel attacked Iran because the Islamic Republic was secretly completing its nuclear bomb research and development. I.e., they were days away from having a bomb. It’s hard to fathom, but if Iran had acquired a nuclear weapon, the very ballistic missiles falling on Israel today would be equipped with a nuclear payload (God forbid). 

In under a week, Israel’s military and intelligence community have managed to undo years of Iranian nuclear advancement.

The military operation has been successful beyond all measure. In a matter of days, Israel created an air corridor to Iran, now controls the airspace over Tehran, destroyed Iran’s nuclear facilities at Natanz, made unusable numerous other related facilities, destroyed half of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers, and eliminated numerous senior military officials (including the Chief of Staff, and his successor, and his successor), among other targets.

The regime in Iran is showing cracks.  They are unable to consistently coordinate attacks against Israel, and the Israeli Air Force has targeted elements of the regime that are used to oppress the people – e.g. the main police headquarters and the Ministry of Justice.

Israel’s hope, and frankly what should be the entire free world’s hope is that the people of Iran will seize this moment and take their country back, but one cannot know if that will happen. Either way, we can already say, even at this stage of the operation, that when the dust settles, Israel’s actions will have not just protected Jerusalem’s interests but will have defended the entire free world.

Iran’s Attacks on Israeli Civilians

Iran has responded, exactly as one would’ve expected them to: indiscriminately killing civilians. It’s what the regime does to its own people, it’s what they paid Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis to do, so it’s not terribly surprising that such is their approach to conflict with Israel.

Moreover, as the regime gets weaker, it becomes more desperate. On Thursday, Iran fired missiles with cluster munitions, and there was a direct missile impact on the main hospital in Be’er Sheva.

It’s worth noting that those who allegedly support human rights and oppose war crimes have been relatively quiet at best, and blamed Israel at worst, in the context of Iran’s attacks.

Israel’s operation is one of those moments in history where the wheat is separated from the chaff.  There’s not a lot of gray area here. One is either supportive of ending the Mullah’s nuclear program or not.

Some are not. Extreme leftists who seemingly align themselves with anything anti-American, and the woke right, which has become infused with antisemitism of Tucker Carlson and Rep. Tom Massie (RINO-KY). As such, there are loud, extremist voices who oppose both Israel’s actions and American support of the Jewish state.

Thankfully, President Trump is publicly, and we can imagine privately as well, putting these bigots and fools in their place.

As President Trump noted online: “Somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that IRAN CANNOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON.”

The American Factor

American involvement in Israel’s operation is presently limited to intelligence sharing and aiding in Israel’s missile defense. The Israelis are clearly very grateful for President Trump’s support, and as a result, countless Israeli lives have been saved.

So, why does everyone keep talking about more American involvement? Simple: Fordow.

Fordow is Iran’s most protected nuclear facility. It is buried deep within a mountain, and the only conventional bomb believed to be capable of destroying the facility is the American Massive Ordinance Penetrator (MOP).

To put this in perspective, the MOP, known technically as the GBU-57, is a 30,000-pound bunker buster. Israel’s largest known bunker buster is the GBU-28, which comes in at just 4,000 lbs.

This noted, the MOP is not the only way to destroy Fordow. Without getting into specifics – as we do not know them – there has been much discussion about Israel utilizing special forces on the ground to destroy the facility.

The question isn’t whether the facility can be destroyed; the question is whether Israel is going to have to place soldiers in Iran or the U.S. is going to fly a B-2 bomber over Fordow and drop an MOP.

Placing soldiers in Iran is an extreme risk as the Iranians have protected the facility against a ground assault. Conversely, the American B-2 option is a significantly lesser risk as Israel has destroyed much of Iran’s surface-to-air capability and the B-2 is a stealth bomber (which Iran could not effectively target even before Israel’s current operation).

Israel’s actions are remaking the Middle East for the better. The extent of the improvement depends on several factors, none of which Israel can truly control.

Jerusalem has opened the door for the Iranian people to rise up against their oppressors – but that will not be easy. Israel has paved the way for the U.S. to destroy the last pillar in Iran’s nuclear program that is still standing – but the bigots and isolationists in Washington will not make that easy for President Trump.

And that’s where you come in. President Trump needs to make this decision based on what is in America’s interests, not the fantastic fear-mongering and willful ignorance espoused by the aforementioned demagogues and antisemites.

As such, if you’ve not already done so, please see this video from CUFI founder and Chairman Pastor Hagee and send a missive to the President expressing your support for a robust pro-Israel American policy.  In addition, in less than two weeks, the CUFI Summit will commence in Washington, where we will help shape U.S. policy and the Middle East for years to come.

We hope to see you there.

Sincerely,

The CUFI Action Fund Team