Several days ago, I planned to write about the likelihood that Israel would bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities, but something always intervened. As the days went by, I assumed that, rather than writing that Israel probably will drop the bombs, I would be writing that Israel did drop the bombs. But here it is, the Ides of December, and no bombs. However, those bombs may still fall because Trump, the “acting president-elect,” just indicated that he believes that bombing those sites is a realistic option.

Back in October, when Iran launched a giant missile barrage against Israel, I thought Israel would destroy Iran’s oil fields and nuclear sites. Instead, Israel did something different: It took out Iran’s air defenses, leaving it a sitting duck in the event that Israel decided to launch more attacks.

A lot has happened since then. Israel has militarily destroyed Iran’s proxies—Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. Additionally, Turkey has wiped out the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria, which was another Iranian proxy. Israel followed that up by destroying Syria’s entire military infrastructure, which was also part of Iran’s air defense. Iran’s mullahs are on the ropes.

Image by Andrea Widburg, using AI.

Just as significantly, on November 5, American voters gave the boot to Joe Biden, Iran’s proxy in the White House. Obama was the original D.C. Iranian proxy, effectively greenlighting Iran’s nuclear program and flooding it with money. Thankfully, when Trump came into office, he changed that.

Trump recognized that the mullahs are extraordinarily dangerous and that, aside from 9/11 itself, they have been behind most of the world’s Islamic terrorism, whether indirectly, through funding, or directly, by having their IRGC generals and other government officials on the ground, directing terrorism. To that end, he shut down the flow of money heading their way and took out their terrorist leader, Qasem Soleimani.

The moment he came into office, Biden reinstated Obama’s pro-Iran policies, once again flooding Iran with cash. Indeed, it just emerged that, two days after the election, the Biden administration gave Iran yet another sanctions waiver, this time for $10 billion. This was the 23rd time he’d done so since entering office. In other words, Biden has kept the mullahs afloat, effectively helping to fund their war on Israel and other terrorist attacks. In sum, Biden funded an enemy to wage war on an ally. Those glory days are over.

But the mullahs aren’t nice guys who will shrug their shoulders and ride off peacefully into the sunset. They are Shia ideologues who thought they had it all: Iranian dominance and the joy of ushering in the dawn of the Hidden Imam by destroying Israel and the West.

What happens, though, when the first part of that dream dies, that is, when their dominance is over? Does anyone seriously believe that this is the moment when the mullahs give up their other dream? I certainly don’t, and it’s doubtful that Israel does either.

Michael Oren, who was the former Israeli ambassador to America, thinks that the mullahs having lost Syria will drive them to extreme acts of violence. After writing about how Israel has been moving swiftly to counter threats in Syria and Lebanon from the ISIS/Al Qaeda/Turkey takeover, Oren notes that another threat remains:

Lastly and most dangerously, a humiliated and vulnerable Iran may decide to break out and produce a nuclear weapon. It certainly has enough enriched uranium, a ballistic delivery system, and perhaps even a workable warhead. The process of making a bomb could be completed before Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20.

Again, Israel must watch this situation very carefully but watching may not be enough. Together with our American allies or, if necessary, alone, Israel must be ready to preempt.

Israel fully understands the existential risk that an Iran with nothing left to lose poses and is preparing to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities:

Israel’s Army Radio reported Thursday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began preparing plans for Israel to attack Iran’s nuclear sites after destroying nearly 90% of Syria’s air defense capabilities, which had formerly protected Iran.

Army Radio military correspondent Doron Kadosh reported on air that Israel had destroyed 86% of Syria’s surface-to-air missile capability, among 500 other sites that the IDF had targeted since the fall of the Assad regime Sunday.

[snip]

Now, he said, with a “clear axis to Iran,” Israel’s military and intelligence officials were preparing operational plans for an attack on the regime’s nuclear facilities. The decision to launch a strike would be left to elected political leaders.

However, Israel may have been hesitating to act because of one more risk it faces, and that’s the United States. As noted above, while Biden pays lip service to Israel being an ally and, when forced, slow-walked to Israel the weapons Israel purchased, his heart is with Israel’s enemies. And indeed, it’s not just Biden’s heart. His entire administration despises Israel. Just look at what’s been going on at the FBI:

It doesn’t stop there, though. It’s not just Wray; it’s the entire FBI:

Israel currently cannot count on America to have its back if it destroys Iran’s nuclear facilities (although that act will be seen as a blessing across the Muslim Middle East).

But help is on the way because Donald Trump, the man all realize is already effectively the president of the United States, has spoken, and he, unlike the fading Biden administration, has got Israel’s back:

President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly weighing different options, including military options, for how to confront and destroy the threat of nuclear weapons being produced by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Wall Street Journal reported that military strikes against nuclear facilities are now under serious consideration by the incoming president.

[snip]

Trump has reportedly signaled to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he wants to take care of the problem, but he does not want to ignite an all-out war.

Trump’s incoming national security team is devising a new “maximum pressure 2.0” campaign against Iran that would impose even tougher sanctions on Iran and potentially add in a military component.

In other words, while Trump would prefer a solution that does not involve bombing Iran’s nuclear sites, he’s willing to recognize that it’s an option and may well back that option if Netanyahu gives him evidence that there’s no other choice.

Israel just needs to hold out for another 37 days...

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