ByJPOST EDITORIAL

JULY 20, 2026 05:59

The recent news cycle has featured reports of airstrikes, missile interceptions, and official military updates. The United States continues operations against Iranian military sites, Israel stays active across several fronts, and Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon faces ongoing dismantling.

Collectively these events have produced a strategic opening that appeared unrealistic only a few years earlier.

The IDF, alongside a US administration ready to confront Tehran directly, has shown that Israel and its partners can hit adversaries with precision. Iran's military strength has been reduced, Hezbollah has endured major losses, and Hamas has lost much of the infrastructure behind the October 7 massacre.

These results are meaningful, yet they stop short of complete victory.

Military campaigns can destroy launchers, command centers, and weapons stockpiles. They cannot, by themselves, create a durable security reality. History shows many cases of battlefield success lost through later strategic inaction. Israel has faced this outcome more than once.

Turning military results into lasting security gains

The immediate task is to convert battlefield results into lasting security gains.

This effort begins with a clear definition of victory. Any such definition must include the return of every hostage, living and dead, from Gaza. It must permit displaced Israelis to return home safely, confident that border threats have been removed. It must also ensure that soldiers' sacrifices produce a safer country rather than another brief pause before renewed fighting.

If Iran rebuilds its missile production within a few years, current operations will have delivered only temporary relief. If Hezbollah returns to southern Lebanon behind another weakly enforced international deal, residents of Kiryat Shmona, Metula, and Shlomi will remain exposed. If Hamas is weakened but Gaza again becomes a base for an extremist force, Israel will have delayed the danger rather than removed it.

These issues should already guide decisions in Jerusalem and Washington.

Lebanon offers the clearest warning. For nearly two decades, UN Security Council Resolution 1701 was meant to keep Hezbollah away from Israel's border. Instead, Hezbollah built a large missile arsenal, placed military sites inside civilian villages, and turned southern Lebanon into Iran's forward base.

Israel cannot repeat that error. Any future arrangement must be judged by its enforcement tools and by Israel's ability to block Hezbollah rebuilding. Diplomatic promises hold value only when supported by monitoring, consequences, and credible military power.

The same clarity applies to Iran. Tehran remains vulnerable, although deterrence never lasts indefinitely. Iran's leaders have shown repeated willingness to absorb setbacks when they believe time favors them.

The goal must therefore go beyond punishment. Iran must be prevented from restoring its missile, drone, and nuclear capabilities. This requires sustained Israeli military readiness, intelligence cooperation, economic pressure, strict verification, and clear consequences for any renewed rearmament.

Coordination with Washington essential for cementing survival

Coordination with Washington is essential. Israel must also retain the freedom and capability to act whenever its security requires it. The US is Israel's most important ally, but no Israeli government can outsource the country's defense or place its survival in the hands of shifting international commitments.

Gaza also requires a defined outcome. Victory means preventing Hamas, or any successor organization committed to Israel's destruction, from rebuilding military control. Any governing alternative must deny terrorist groups weapons, territory, and the ability to threaten Israeli communities. Reconstruction cannot become another mechanism for rearmament.

The current conflict has also strengthened alignment between Israel, the US, and pragmatic Arab states that see Iran as a common threat. That cooperation should become permanent. Integrated missile defense, intelligence sharing, and coordinated deterrence can form the basis of a regional security architecture capable of confronting Iran and its proxies over the long term.

Israel has spent years responding to crises. This moment offers an opportunity to shape the region.

The soldiers of the IDF have created a strategic opening. The task of Israel's political leadership is to ensure that their achievements are not exchanged for vague promises, temporary quiet, or another unenforced agreement.

Winning the war is indispensable. Preventing Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas from rebuilding is the harder task and the true measure of victory.