OPINION:
This morning, the world changed.
After years of escalating threats, rocket fire, proxy wars and nuclear brinkmanship, Israel struck deep into Iran — targeting nuclear infrastructure and military assets. It was a declaration: The era of appeasement is over.
This was not just a defensive strike. It was a moment of clarity, conviction and courage. It came not from Washington, not from Brussels, but from a small, democratic nation surrounded by enemies, standing alone and doing what the West has refused to do for decades.
This wasn’t symbolic. This was a global strike on behalf of peace, security and civilization itself.
For too long, regime change in Iran has been treated like a dirty word in polite diplomatic circles. Today, that fiction is over. Israel took action — unilaterally, decisively and morally.
The fact Israel is standing alone is equally real and equally tragic.
Israel’s actions are both heroic and damning. Damning to the Biden administration and equally shameful to generations of dithering European and Western leaders who allowed Iran to rise unchecked while they peddled delusions of diplomacy.
President Trump now sits in the Oval Office, and he knows exactly what Israel knows: Iran is the central engine of global terror, the state sponsor of chaos from Gaza to Kyiv, the regime responsible for killing Americans, threatening Europe and destabilizing the world for decades.
Mr. Trump tore up the Iran nuclear deal when others called it reckless. It was the right call then, and now, the wisdom of that decision is blindingly clear.
Israel has done what the Biden administration refused to: Act. That is courage.
And let’s not pretend this was merely regional. This is the front line in the global war between civilization and savagery. Iran fuels Russia’s war in Ukraine, dispatches drones to murder civilians, funds Hezbollah and the Houthis and works hand-in-glove with China to weaken the West.
Israel did not escalate the conflict. It answered a generation of weakness — from Obama’s legitimization of the regime through the disastrous nuclear deal, to Biden’s attempts to revive it while Iran bombed American bases, seized tankers and enriched uranium in defiance of every agreement.
We cannot forget that it took one of the world’s smallest nations to carry the global burden, the responsibility of removing a universal pariah, ayatollahs who had unsettled the world order with terrorism for half a century — because no one else would. That weakness demanded a response. And Israel delivered it.
President Trump, call for a full military resupply of Israel. Demand an immediate end to all diplomatic hedging. Condemn any effort by the United Nations to sanction Israel for defending itself. And make clear that the U.S. stands behind Israel, not only as a partner, but as an ally in a shared mission to rid the world of a barbaric regime.
The president should immediately call for the the activation of joint intelligence-sharing cells between the U.S. and Israel, as well as the
deployment of U.S. naval and aerial assets to blunt the inevitable Iranian counterattacks.
But now, Israel fights alone. It needs America’s help.
This is the time for boldness.
This is not just about helping an ally. It’s about preserving the global order. If Iran falls, its terror proxies collapse. Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis — all vanish. Syria and Iraq are freed from Tehran’s grip. And Moscow and Beijing take notice: the West is still willing to fight.
Weakness breeds war. Strength wins it. Israel has elected to endure condemnation to do what’s right for the world. This is unvarnished self-defense on behalf of mankind.
Despots don’t fall quietly — and if Iran had nuclear weapons, it would already have used. them Thanks to Israel’s strike, that
future is not yet a reality.
Mr. Trump understands that better than anyone.
Let the U.N. sputter. Let Brussels hide. Let China and Russia rage. The free world no longer answers to institutions that protect tyrants. Israel has already taken the risk. America must match it with resolve. Because Israel is fighting our war, and it should not bear the burden alone.
A single strike will not be sufficient. Regime change does not happen by accident. It requires resolve, coordination and ,above all, support from allies who recognize what is truly at stake.
Critics will scream about escalation, as if escalation hasn’t already arrived. They may demand diplomacy, as if a regime that slaughters its own people will ever negotiate in good faith.
The Israeli military now stands as the world’s beacon of freedom, taking a lonely, high-risk stand in the face of global apathy. It deserves not just praise, but full-throated American support.
Let the tyrants in Tehran and all future despots who hold their people hostage hear this: The free world is no longer appeasing. Your destiny is elimination. It is up to President Trump to follow through and ensure that the message is resoundingly received, now and for the future.
• Andrew King is general partner at Bastille Ventures, investing in critical technology furthering national security, and the founder of the bipartisan nonprofit Future Union, which works with the private sector to combat state espionage.
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