To jog or not to jog? That was the question I woke up with in Jerusalem Friday morning after a night interrupted by sirens. Israel had finally answered its two-decade-old \u201cto be or not to be\u201d question by attacking Iran.<\/p>\n
The threat against Israel\u2014and the West\u2014had been getting worse in recent months. Beyond Iran\u2019s rush to go nuclear, there were rumors of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps coordinating a multiborder invasion, which would include first deposing the Egyptian and Jordanian regimes to encircle Israel in a \u201cring of fire.\u201d At 3:18 a.m. Friday, my wife and I were awakened in our home in Jerusalem and took shelter downstairs in our safe room. There, we tracked Israel\u2019s well-planned attack through headlines on our phones\u2014and canceled our plans, which included attending a wedding Friday morning.<\/p>\n
Headlines call this a \u201cpre-emptive strike\u201d by Israel against Iran, but there is nothing pre-emptive about it. Iran has repeatedly threatened Israel with destruction, unleashed lethal proxies against the Jewish state, and launched at least 500 missiles at Israel in the past 14 months. Anyone who doesn\u2019t understand why such aggression requires a devastating response doesn\u2019t understand jihadism, the fight against dictatorships, American history, international law or just-war theory.<\/p>\n
How things will end is unclear, but we know how they began: with the Islamist takeover that ruined Iran. Iran is a country of more than 90 million people some 1,400 miles from Israel, which has 9.5 million people. About 1.8 million Muslims live in Israel, and the country contains many major Muslim holy sites that Islamists should protect, not threaten. There is no historic enmity between Persians and Jews. Iran recognized Israel as a legitimate state in 1950. Under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, there were robust economic and cultural ties, as well as many secret military exchanges.<\/p>\n
The Iranian revolution of 1979 changed everything. Iran severed ties with Israel shortly after the mullahs seized power. The Islamic Republic of Iran\u2019s first dictator, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, deemed Israel an \u201cenemy of Islam.\u201d In Khomeini\u2019s eschatological hierarchy of hatred, the Jewish state was the \u201cLittle Satan,\u201d the atheistic Soviet Union was \u201cthe Lesser Satan,\u201d and the U.S. was\u2014and still is\u2014the \u201cGreat Satan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the decades, the threats against Israel by Khomeini\u2019s successor, Ayatollah Ali Khameini, \u201cthat God willing, its obliteration is certain,\u201d escalated, along with Iran\u2019s nuclear capabilities. Some in the West began noticing the mullahocracy\u2019s genocidal intent and thirst for weaponry during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, from 2005 to 2013. On his X account, Mr. Ahmadinejad today describes himself as \u201cHusband, Dad, Grandfather, University Professor, President, Mayor, Governor, Soccer Player, Proud Iranian.\u201d He is, in fact, a Holocaust-denying, Jew-hating demagogue who has repeatedly threatened to \u201cfinish\u201d Israel \u201conce and for all.\u201d He called Israel a \u201cfalse regime\u201d and a \u201cstinking corpse,\u201d led by \u201cbloodthirsty barbarians\u201d that should be \u201cwiped off the map.\u201d<\/p>\n
Irwin Cotler, a human-rights lawyer who served as Canada\u2019s justice minister and attorney general from 2003 to 2006, has spent decades reminding the international community that incitement to genocide is punishable under the Geneva Conventions. Recalling the venomous rhetoric that spurred Hutus to kill 800,000 fellow Rwandans in 1994, Mr. Cotler warned: \u201cThe Hutus were equipped with machetes, Iran is equipped ostensibly with atomic weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the only instance of state-sanctioned genocide that is foretold\u2014waiting to happen,\u201d Mr. Cotler said in 2009 at Columbia Law School. \u201cAnd this is where the duty to prevent kicks in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iran is a nuclear threshold state. In its obsessive desire to eliminate \u201cthe Zionist regime,\u201d it has menaced its citizens and bankrolled mayhem worldwide, arming the Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists.<\/p>\n
Since Oct. 7, 2023, Iran has crossed even more red lines. On April 13, 2024, it launched 170 drones, more than 30 cruise missiles and more than 120 ballistic missiles against Israel. On Oct. 1, 2024, it launched another 200 ballistic missiles in two waves.<\/p>\n
Israel has long avoided this day, trusting diplomacy, the international community and its own efforts to contain the threat. But as Iran galloped toward atomic power and defied American pressure, Israel felt compelled to act.<\/p>\n
Since Oct. 7, three of my four children have served in the nation\u2019s reserves. Young people across the nation are mobilized. The safe rooms in Israelis\u2019 homes are stocked and ready. And our people are proud that we are making the world safer, because we\u2019re willing to do the West\u2019s dirty work.<\/p>\n
Israel is now eerily quiet. On Friday I ventured out and to my surprise, I wasn\u2019t the only one jogging or shopping. The caf\u00e9 near me was full\u2014never stand between Israelis and their Friday coffee. Despite everything, the wedding took place, 4\u00bd hours late, in the couple\u2019s front yard, with dozens of us\u2014some on Zoom\u2014celebrating and crying.<\/p>\n