BY MOSHE HILL OPINION COLUMNS JUNE 19 2025
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the State of Israel made the courageous decision to cut off the head of the octopus that has been terrorizing them and the world for years. On Thursday night, Israeli jets breached Iranian airspace and took complete superiority over the skies above Tehran. Mossad agents on the ground took out high-level targets, and Iran’s nuclear program has been set back decades. Predictably, Iran retaliated, targeting civilian centers throughout Israel, killing many and wounding more, with numbers still being reported. Equally predictable was the reaction from all those who hate Israel, hate Jews, and want to destroy Western civilization. Those people should not only keep quiet—they should be openly professing gratitude to the Jewish state.
To understand the gravity of Israel’s heroic actions against Iran’s nuclear ambitions, we must first look at North Korea, a nation that became a nuclear power through deception, defiance, and the world’s inaction. In the 1950s, North Korea began its nuclear journey under the guise of peaceful energy, receiving Soviet assistance to build research reactors. By the 1980s, it was secretly developing plutonium production capabilities at Yongbyon. Despite signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1985, North Korea cheated, delaying inspections and hiding its weapons program. In 1994, the Agreed Framework with the U.S. promised to freeze its nuclear activities in exchange for aid, but North Korea continued clandestine uranium enrichment.
That is the step that the world was at with Iran. Incredibly, the West did not learn its lesson from North Korea, and we were poised to have the same thing happen again. By 2002, North Korea expelled International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors, withdrew from the NPT in 2003, and conducted its first nuclear test in 2006. Today, they possess dozens of warheads, threaten global stability, and embolden rogue regimes—all because the world failed to act decisively.
At the time of the attack, Iran was enriching uranium to 60% purity, near weapons-grade, with enough material for multiple bombs. The IAEA said the day before Israel’s strikes that Iran was in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in 20 years.
While Israel fights for its survival and the world’s safety, voices on social media from both the Left and Right spew venom, oblivious to the stakes. On the Left, users with hundreds of thousands of followers are making ridiculous and unfounded claims about Iran, and cheering rockets hitting Israel. Claims like Iran was never aggressive, was always peaceful, and that Israel had no justification in the attack sound like they are coming directly from the Ayatollah communications team.
On the Right, high-profile users are accusing Israel of 9/11, dragging the U.S. into Iraq, and of Trump’s assassination attempts. All of these ridiculous lies are because they claim that America is going to draft everyone in the country to go fight on Israel’s behalf. This would be laughable if they weren’t so serious. In 51 of its 77-year history, Israel has been at war or in conflict. Not once has an American troop been deployed in her defense.
Both sides of these reactions unmask the reality of what lies beneath their words. Those who celebrate Iranian missiles hitting civilian population centers because Israel attacked Iran are bloodthirsty sociopaths who don’t see the irony of the pearl-clutching cries of “genocide” when Israel retaliated in Gaza after October 7th. Those who turn this conflict into a blame game on American troop involvement in various Middle East conflicts expose their own narcissism, as if Israel is eager for overweight keyboard warriors and podcast guests to rush to their aid.
On his end, President Donald Trump played this perfectly, giving Iran a 60-day ultimatum on April 12 to negotiate a nuclear deal or face consequences. “Two months ago, I gave Iran a 60-day ultimatum to ‘make a deal.’ They should have done it!” Trump posted on Truth Social on June 13, hours after Israel’s strikes began. The attack, launched on June 12—the 61st day—came after Iran rejected U.S. proposals and was censured by the IAEA for violating non-proliferation obligations. Trump’s strategy was clear: exhaust diplomacy, expose Iran’s bad faith, and greenlight Israel’s righteous operation, dubbed “Rising Lion,” which obliterated Natanz and killed 20 Iranian commanders and six nuclear scientists. Trump’s posts urged Iran to “make a deal, before there is nothing left,” showing his commitment to peace while backing Israel’s necessary force. He simultaneously kept America out of it, while also backing Israel both politically and militarily. American personnel were moved to safety the day before the attack, while American armaments are moving into strategic position to deter strikes on American targets in the region.
As Iranian missiles rain on Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem, Israelis are paying the ultimate price. As of Monday, 14 Israelis, including four children, have been killed, with over 200 injured and 35 missing. A missile strike in Bnei Brak destroyed homes and a school, while Haifa’s residential streets burned. Every Israeli death is a sacrifice for humanity, preventing a nuclear Iran that would hold the world hostage. The IDF’s precision strikes—over 250 targets, including Natanz, Fordow, and Iran’s missile sites—have crippled Iran’s ability to produce a bomb. Israeli pilots, intelligence operatives, and civilians enduring sirens and shelters are heroes, not just for the Jewish nation but for every nation. Their blood ensures Iran cannot follow North Korea’s path. We owe them not just gratitude but unwavering support, as they fight a war no one else dared to wage.
Instead of gratitude, nations like Ireland, Spain, and Norway have the gall to condemn Israel. Ireland’s Taoiseach Simon Harris called the strikes “a reckless escalation” on June 13, ignoring Iran’s missile barrages targeting Israeli civilians. Spain’s Pedro Sánchez labeled Israel’s actions “a violation of international law,” while Norway’s Jonas Gahr Støre urged “restraint” as if Israel, not Iran, targeted innocents. These countries, safe in their European bubble, owe their security to Israel’s courage. A nuclear Iran would threaten global energy markets, blackmail the West, and arm terrorists worldwide—yet these nations slander the Jewish state. Every nation breathing easier today because Iran’s nuclear program lies in ruins owes Israel a debt they can never repay.
This is a true story of David vs. Goliath. Israel is the size of New Jersey; Iran is twice the size of Texas. Israel has a population of 9 million; Iran has a population of 90 million. Israel is the only Jewish state; Iran is one of dozens of Muslim and Arab states. Israel has few supporters in the United Nations; Iran has hundreds. Yet like David, Israel has Hashem behind them, and that is more powerful than any weapon.