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Israel’s 3 Stages of Attack

Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal

While missiles from the terrorists in Gaza have been raining on Israel this past week, and this is a serious threat, we need to keep our eye on the long game, which is Iran marching ever more quickly towards the nuclear bomb.

The incredible thing is that before the 1979 Islamic Revolution overthrew the Shah, Israel had wonderful friendly relations with Iran, and they worked cooperatively together on agriculture, medicine, infrastructure, and even security. However, immediately after the religiously fanatical and rabidly anti-Semitic Ayatollah took over, he severed relations with Israel and sought the attainment of weapons of mass destruction to destroy them.

Iran’s genocidal ambitions and nuclear buildup

Iran has long sought nuclear weapons to destroy Israel. Just as some examples:

In 2001, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated:

It is the mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to erase Israel from the map of the region.

In 2014, Khamenei reiterated, using rhetoric evocative of the Nazis:

This barbaric, wolflike & infanticidal regime of Israel which spares no crime has no cure but to be annihilated.

In 2021, even as the U.S. and Iran were looking to negotiate for the possible renewal of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to ease sanctions in return for Iran walking back its WMD program, Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi, a spokesman for Iran’s armed forces, stated:

We will not back off from the annihilation of Israel, even one millimeter. We want to destroy Zionism in this world.

As recently as February 2023, the Internal Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) detected near-weapons-grade uranium in Iran.

Further, the United Nations’ top nuclear official, Rafael Mariano Grossi, is warning that Iran has enough enriched nuclear fissile material to build “several” nuclear weapons.

However, Israel clearly has a military doctrine and plan.

Ever since former Prime Minister Menachem Begin ordered the strike on Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981, Israel’s policy of preemption against existential threats against it has been clear. In 2007, Israel similarly attacked Syria’s nuclear reactor in Deir ez-Zor.

Recently, in January 2023, the U.S. and Israel conducted massive joint military exercises, Juniper Oak 23, as a clear warning to Iran that they would not be allowed to get nuclear weapons and that they were prepared to act.

Israel knows that if they are forced to take out Iran’s nuclear facilities, Iran will retaliate with long-range missiles as well as using their terrorist proxies, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In my understanding, Israel is prepared to counter Iran’s missiles with its comprehensive three-tier missile shield of Iron Dome, David’s Sling, Arrow-2, and Arrow-3. However, if the Iranian-sponsored terrorists in Gaza and Lebanon are activated, Israel risks being pummeled simultaneously with missile barrages from three directions.

Therefore, it only makes sense as a strategy for Israel to not only preemptively attack but also incrementally dismantle Iran and its terrorist weapons buildup in the following three distinct stages:

Stage 1—Hamas/Islamic Jihad: Currently, Israel is conducting Operation Shield and Arrow in Gaza. While the terrorists have exhausted themselves with the launching of over 1,100 missiles at Israel and thank G-d, mostly to no significant effect, Israel took out three “kingpin terrorists” from Islamic Jihad in a masterful strike on May 8 and followed with additional decapitation strikes on their leadership in the days that followed.

Stage 2—Hezbollah: With Hezbollah having amassed around 150,000 missiles, Israel will need to clear the field of these weapons before they can be used against them. It remains to be seen how Israel will destroy the countless stores of these deadly weapons cowardly hidden behind human shields in houses, schools, hospitals, and mosques. However, Israel cannot allow Hezbollah to ruthlessly bombard its population centers and vital infrastructure.

Stage 3Iran’s Nukes: The Mossad and IDF have for decades been working to sabotage Iran’s diabolical plot to destroy it. From Stuxnet, the first known cyber weapon used in 2010, to Israel stealing Iran’s nuclear archive in 2018 and the assassination of Iran’s lead nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, by a killer robot in 2021, Israel has tried to thwart Iran’s existential threat buildup. However, as Iran is nearing a nuclear breakout, there will be no alternative but for Prime Minister Netanyahu to act and order the bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Hashem is in charge, and we are his unapologetic warriors.

No one knows exactly what will happen between Israel and Iran. However, we look to the Almighty for his ultimate and continuous redemption of our people. With this in mind, I hope and pray that the Ayatollah will reverse course.

Jews learned from 2,000 years of relentless persecution in exile that we must defend ourselves. In the last 125 years, the Zionist movement has evolved to the point where the downtrodden Jews who were homeless, hunted, and massacred are virtually no more. After 6,000,000 of us Jews were murdered in the Holocaust (of which the hateful Ayatollah is an ardent denier), and with the reestablishment of the State of Israel in 1948, there is a “new Jew in town” that relentlessly strives to be independent, bold, creative, and strong.

As we are maneuvering closer to the finish line with Iran, we must maintain our ultimate faith in the “Rock of Israel,” as well as continue to be dedicated to defending our people, land, and religion. Of course, if the Ayatollah doesn’t change course towards peace, then I am confident that, as history is our guide, he and his clerics will end up no better than Haman and his 10 sons. May Hashem help us.

About the Author
Andy Blumenthal is a dynamic, award-winning leader who writes frequently about Jewish life, culture, and security. All opinions are his own.
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