John,
What is happening in the Middle East is not a battle between Israel and Iran.
It is a battle for civilization and the Western values – like freedom, openness, and democracy – that define the United States of America.
This is what the Islamic Republic of Iran has always hoped to destroy.
For over forty years, Iran’s leaders have led chants of “Death to Israel!” and “Death to America!” Iran’s Supreme Leader has described Israel as a “cancerous tumor” that must “vanish from the pages of time” through “total armed resistance.” He says the Holocaust is a “myth.” A fanatical religious ideology drives Iran’s leaders, and they have told us exactly what they think and intend to do. Too many just have not been listening.
This week, it became clear Iran was hurtling toward creating a nuclear weapon, as the International Atomic Energy Agency declared Iran was in breach of its nuclear nonproliferation obligations.
Last night, the State of Israel took the Iranian regime at its word.
They launched an attack to destroy Iran’s nuclear arsenal before it could be used to destroy Israel.
Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terror, the force behind Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthi militias responsible for terrorizing the entire Middle East. When Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 – raping and murdering 1,200 innocents – the Iranian regime celebrated. Iranian security forces stand accused of trying to kidnap and murder people on U.S. soil and plotting the assassination of President Trump.
These are the facts.
Do not let anyone tell you this is an Israel problem. Iran’s leaders refer to Israel as the “Little Satan,” and the U.S. as the “Great Satan.” In the wake of the Israeli strikes, Iranian leaders are already suggesting they intend to attack the U.S. and our interests in the Middle East. It is why Israel and the U.S. must stand together, just as we always have.
Far too many – in the media and in Congress – have tried to blind us to these facts. But they can no longer be ignored. The Islamic Republic of Iran, which works tirelessly to fund and encourage anti-American hatred and pro-Hamas protests on our college campuses and in our streets, is the aggressor. They are the problem, an exporter of hatred and terror abroad and an agent of brutal oppression at home.
In Iran, women are killed, tortured, and disappeared for refusing to wear headscarves. People are jailed for walking their dogs. Gays and lesbians are publicly hanged from cranes.
Meanwhile, today, Israel was supposed to host 60,000 people for the Tel Aviv Pride parade.
If you cannot see the differences between these societies – the values they hold, the freedoms they allow, the things they cherish – then you cannot or will not see.
None of this demands that Americans support everything an Israeli government does. But it requires us to have the clarity to know that Israel is our ally, that they share the same Western values, and that they are a thriving democracy where their citizens – Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike – have the right to think and speak freely. It requires us to understand that some of the voices in America who claim to be fighting for social justice are – wittingly or unwittingly – doing the bidding of an Iranian regime that seeks the destruction of the United States.
Fortunately, many of No Labels’ closest allies in Washington have this clarity. Two of them are New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer and New York Congressman Mike Lawler, who will join the No Labels community for an emergency call tomorrow at 1:00 PM to 1:30 PM ET to share thoughts about how America should respond to this unfolding crisis.
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