One thousand miles separate Israel and Iran. The former is a small democracy of 10 million people; the latter is a vast theocracy, roughly 75 times Israel’s size, with a population nearly nine times larger.
Iran is about 2.5 times the size of Texas, while Israel is roughly the size of New Jersey.
There is no territorial conflict between the two nations. No competition over natural resources. No trade disputes. Iran and Israel don’t even share a border. So why is Israel fighting Iran?
The answer begins with Iran’s proxies.
Iran has planned to wipe out Israel for decades
For decades, Iran has been waging a war of attrition against the Jewish state and its allies – not through conventional armies, but via terrorist organizations it trains, funds, and arms. From Hezbollah in Lebanon to Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, and more recently in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, Iran has created a regional web of militias committed to Israel’s destruction.
These proxies threaten Israel’s borders and target Israeli civilians, launch rockets at cities, dig terror tunnels, and attack Jews – including on October 7, 2023.
Second, Iran’s pursuit of intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons makes its threat global, not local – as US President Donald Trump understands. No other country openly declares its desire to “wipe another country off the map” while actively building the weapons to do so.
Iran’s nuclear ambitions are not just a concern for Israel – they endanger the stability of the entire Middle East and, eventually, the free world. Their current missile arsenal can already reach much of Europe. They are working on technology that would soon be able to hit American shores.
But this is not merely a military confrontation. At its core, this is a civilizational struggle, a moral and spiritual clash between two opposite worldviews. And perhaps this is also a key reason for Trump’s intervention.
Iran’s ayatollahs represent the worst impulses of humanity: a repressive regime that tortures dissidents, murders women for removing a headscarf, funds terrorism, exports jihad, and glorifies death.
It is a government that despises freedom and democracy – a Shi’ite minority intent on dismantling the Sunni majority, dominating the entire Muslim world, and eliminating all who refuse to submit to its ideology. Above all, it harbors a deep and abiding hatred for the Jewish state.
Israel, in contrast, is everything the Iranian regime hates. A free, vibrant, and innovative society. A modern miracle that rose from the ashes of the Holocaust. A beacon of life in a region too often defined by death.
Israel celebrates liberty, creativity, progress, and peace. It is deeply rooted in ancient faith and built on timeless values. And it is determined to defend itself.
This is David vs Goliath, in size and in substance. In this battle, Israel stands for the very idea of civilization against barbarism, of life over death, and of truth over tyranny.
Iran's war against Israel is about hatred
Iran’s war against the Jewish state is not about borders; it’s about hatred without borders. It’s the same ancient hatred that has chased the Jewish people from continent to continent, century after century, wearing different uniforms and speaking different languages, but always preaching the same dark gospel.
Today, that hatred wears a black turban in Tehran.
And yet, Israel will prevail.
The Jewish people have seen Pharaohs and Romans, inquisitors and Nazis, and pogroms and rockets. We are still here. We don’t seek war, but we will not run from it. We will fight for our people, our land, and our values.
For the sake of our children and for the future of the free world, we must ensure that this time – as in every generation – the forces of evil are defeated and light triumphs over darkness.
The writer is an MK from the Religious Zionist Party and a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.