Israel Must Achieve Its Victory in a Flash War

The ongoing Operation Rising Lion against Iran presents Israel with a stark choice: a swift, decisive conclusion, or a protracted conflict with crippling consequences. The path forward is clear. Israel must achieve complete victory through a rapid, regime-changing offensive. Anything less risks catastrophic costs – strategic, economic, and moral – that Israel and its people cannot afford to bear.

The “Gaza model” of grinding, long-term conflict is fundamentally unsuitable and disastrous against a nation like Iran. A prolonged war is a luxury Israel cannot indulge:

Economic Bleeding: Sustained, large-scale warfare drains national coffers at an unsustainable rate. Defense expenditures skyrocket while vital domestic investments and economic growth stall. The long-term debt burden for future generations becomes immense.

Human Casualty: Every day of extended conflict means more Israeli soldiers and civilians exposed to danger. The cost in lives and lasting trauma is unacceptable and avoidable with decisive action.

Strategic Backfire: Time is the enemy’s ally. A drawn-out campaign, regardless of initial successes, allows Iran to regroup, adapt, and mobilize resources. Crucially, it risks turning the Iranian populace – many of whom despise the oppressive Islamic regime – against Israel. Bombing that inflicts massive suffering without removing the regime only fuels hatred, solidifies support for the hardliners, and creates generations of animosity.

Global Isolation: The international community, including potential regional partners and western partners, grows increasingly critical of prolonged military action. A slow war amplifies condemnation from the Muslim world and the West alike, further damaging Israel’s already strained international standing. Recovery from this reputational damage would take decades.

The longer the war lasts, the less the international support Israel gets. As we saw in the beginning of the war in Gaza, international community especially the western allies were supporting the Israeli revenge, but later on especially in the recent months, less and less countries are supporting Israel’s war in Gaza, some even voices harsh criticism.

There are at least following points to be considered while achieving the goals for Israel:

The Imperative of Regime Change

Half-measures will fail. Destroying nuclear facilities like Fordow, while necessary, is insufficient. The current regime’s core ideology drives its relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons and regional hegemony. Only the complete removal of the Islamic Republic’s ruling structure can permanently dismantle its nuclear ambitions. As long as this regime remains, it will rebuild, reconstitute, and continue its existential threat to Israel. A swift, decisive strike aimed at regime collapse is the only strategy that offers a lasting solution.

Israel Air Force F-35I, Courtesy: IAF

Regional Stability at Stake

Prolonging the conflict dangerously complicates Israel’s hard-won regional relationships. The Abraham Accords partners, while sharing Israel’s concerns about Iran, cannot withstand the domestic and international pressure generated by images of a long, devastating war spilling across the region. A quick resolution minimizes this fallout and preserves the potential for future cooperation.

A Moral Imperative

There is a profound moral dimension. Subjecting the Iranian people to devastating bombardment while leaving the oppressive regime intact is strategically incoherent and ethically dubious. The Iranian people would suffer immensely only to remain under the same tyrannical rule. They would rightly see Israel as inflicting pain without delivering liberation, they will not forgive Israel. A swift victory focused on regime collapse offers the only hope for a better future for Iranians and lasting security for Israel.

Speed is Paramount!

As the legendary strategist Sun Tzu articulated 2500 years ago, “兵贵神速” – speed is the essence of war. Israel must internalize this timeless truth. Hesitation, incrementalism, and a failure to aim for a decisive, regime-ending blow will lead to disaster. The costs of delay – economic ruin, mounting casualties, deepening hatred, global isolation, and a still-intact nuclear threat – are too high.

Time is of the essence. The longer this war continues, the more it will galvanize hostility against Israel—not just from the Iranian public, even those who oppose the current regime, but also from the wider Muslim world and the international community. Each additional week of bombing, each headline of destruction, will be used to fuel a narrative of aggression that will take generations for Israel to recover from. The damage to Israel’s image is already severe. To prolong the operation is to hand propaganda victories to its enemies and moral debts to future generations of Israelis.

Operation Rising Lion demands a lightning strike, not a war of attrition. Israel must marshal its resources, focus its objective unequivocally on regime change, and act with overwhelming speed and force to achieve a complete victory. The future security of Israel, the stability of the region, and the well-being of generations depend on it. Victory must come in a flash.