After a 12-day military operation that dealt a historic blow to Iran’s nuclear weapons program, Israelis woke up Wednesday morning to a painful reminder of the war still raging closer to home.
Just hours after a fragile ceasefire with Tehran took effect, tragedy struck in Gaza: Seven IDF soldiers were killed when Hamas blew up their Engineering Corps armored vehicle.
The success in Iran was real, but as we learned on Wednesday, the Israel-Hamas War is not yet over. And neither, more critically, is the plight of the 20 living hostages who continue to languish in Hamas captivity. While the nuclear facilities of Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan might now lie in ruins, the hostages are still waiting.
The question facing Israel now is whether the political courage and leadership that led to success 2,000 kilometers away can be brought to bear in our own backyard, in Gaza.
The answer, ultimately, will depend on Hamas.
However, it will also depend on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and whether he is prepared to take bold and difficult decisions, even at the risk of political fallout. After the Iran operation, there is reason to believe that he might be.
June 13 was a moment of decisive leadership.
While the IDF and Mossad rightfully deserve immense credit for the precise execution of the operation, none of it would have happened without Netanyahu’s decision to act.
He made the call – knowing that there was no guarantee of success. Earlier assessments spoke of potentially hundreds of Israelis killed by Iranian missiles and of Air Force jets shot down over Iran.
There was no certainty that Israel would be able to disable Iran’s nuclear infrastructure or degrade its ballistic missile capacity. But Netanyahu acted.
It was a moment such as when Menachem Begin decided to strike the Iraqi Osirak reactor in 1981 and when Ehud Olmert decided to send the IAF to bomb Syria’s nuclear facility in 2007.
In all three cases, Israeli prime ministers understood that their first obligation was to the security and survival of the country. Not to polls or coalitions.
That is why, regardless of what one thinks about Netanyahu’s broader record – especially the failures that led to October 7 – he deserves credit and recognition for what happened over the past two weeks.
That success does not erase the failures. But the failures do not negate the achievements. Both can coexist side-by-side.
In Iran, Israel achieved what many thought was impossible: It gained air superiority over one of the most heavily defended regimes in the Middle East; it prevented the launch of hundreds of ballistic missiles; and it set back Iran’s nuclear program by years – not months, as some initial US intelligence assessments claimed.
What is now clear is that Netanyahu recognized a unique set of factors that opened a narrow window of opportunity.
Hamas and Hezbollah had been severely degraded since October 7. The Assad regime in Syria, long used by Iran as a corridor for weapons and entrenchment, had been toppled.
And Tehran had become exposed following last year’s direct exchange of blows with Israel.
Seeing a rare opportunity and seizing it
Netanyahu saw this rare moment and he seized it – not only by preparing the IDF and intelligence services for action, but also by leveraging the relationship with the Trump administration.
It was that strategic alignment that brought the United States into the campaign when it sent seven B-2 bombers to strike Iranian nuclear sites in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The impact of the joint Israeli-American operation resonates far beyond the Middle East.
It sent a message to adversaries across the globe that the US is still willing to use force. And it reminded the world of what American-Israeli coordination can accomplish when guided by shared strategic vision and leadership.
Still, Netanyahu’s work is not done. The war in Gaza remains unresolved, and the hostages remain in captivity.
The country remains wounded – physically, emotionally, and politically – and it needs the war to end to heal.
The war in Iran has opened a new opportunity for Israel.
With Tehran’s nuclear program set back, and its regional deterrence shaken, Hamas is more isolated than ever. There are already signs that the strategic shift is creating space for progress; a better hostage deal may now be within reach.
But for the Iran operation to be remembered as more than a tactical success, it must serve as a pivot toward a broader regional realignment and, just as importantly, toward national healing at home.
The time has come to apply the same resolve, creativity, and political courage to bring the Gaza campaign to a close.
That means finding a viable formula for the “day after” Hamas and facing down his coalition members who oppose any role for the Palestinian Authority or who reject international involvement in rebuilding Gaza.
And that means being honest with the public about what victory in Gaza will look like – and what compromises might be necessary to secure a lasting outcome.
Netanyahu's job now
Netanyahu will need to stand up to the ideologues in his own government – Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir – who have conditioned their membership in the coalition on the war continuing.
He will need to work with partners like Saudi Arabia and the UAE and recognize that, without a role for the PA – however flawed – it will be hard to build a sustainable post-war future for Gaza.
Victory in Iran showed what can be achieved when Israel acts with vision, coordination, and courage. But real victory – the kind that shapes the next generation – will be measured not only by destroyed centrifuges but by returned hostages, an end to the fighting, and the realization of the opportunities that now exist for new diplomatic horizons in the Middle East.
Netanyahu showed that courage when he ordered the Air Force to fly 2,000 kilometers to Iran. It is time to do it again in Gaza.
The writer is a co-author of a forthcoming book, While Israel Slept, about the October 7 Hamas attacks, a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, and a former editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post.