The IDF responded after Hezbollah rockets and drones struck Israeli territory in the north, despite intense behind-the-scenes pressure from the Trump administration to absorb the fire to protect diplomatic negotiations.
Israel’s actions of self-defense have frustrated the Trump administration, which is in the midst of signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Iranian regime.
Iran’s leadership knows any nuclear agreement is a temporary instrument, reversible with the next administration or crisis, but regional perception is not temporary. If Tehran is seen absorbing Israeli strikes without response during active negotiations, it signals weakness to every proxy and rival watching from Beirut to Baghdad.
Here’s my take.
Iran is using Hezbollah and Lebanon as leverage, trying to preserve itself and its terror proxies across the region.
Of course, Israel is Hezbollah’s number one target. A lesser government in the Jewish State would have stayed quiet to keep Washington happy, but Israel didn’t. Why? Because they reserve the right to defend itself from the barrage of endless attacks from Hezbollah and, ultimately, the source of all the terrorism, Iran.
Chris Katulka is the Vice President of North American Ministries for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, the host of The Friends of Israel Today radio program, a writer for Israel My Glory magazine, and a Contributor to Harbinger’s Daily.
Editor’s Note: The People Of Israel Live
Chris Katulka, in his article, “The Power Of God’s Promises: Despite Iran’s Relentless Call For Their Annihilation, The People Of Israel Live,” highlighted the spiritual battle beneath the surface of this conflict.
“’Death to Israel’ permeates Iran’s identity,” he noted. “The slogan is broadcast over state media and sung throughout the country as a Muslim ritual. Iranian funding emboldened Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis to attack Israel. Iran’s national rhetoric embodies a refusal to accept the Jewish state’s right to exist, a vow to erase Jewish self-determination.”
The Ayatollahs’ ferocious hatred of Israel is deeply satanic, rooted in the devil’s desire to thwart God’s promises to the Jewish State.
“Even when the Jewish people appear most vulnerable, there remains a divine promise of restoration and renewal,” Katulka stressed, pointing to “God’s covenant of protection over the Jewish people.”
“In the end, when history records these days, it will not be the missiles that define the moment but the resolute chorus of a people who will not be extinguished because of a God who loves life more than death,” he underscored. “Am Yisrael Chai—’the people of Israel live’—because ‘He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep’ (Ps. 121:4).”
