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Who Won?
Passover has passed over. The guns have fallen silent, at least temporarily. For the first time since Epic Fury (in the U.S.) and Lion’s Roar (in Israel) erupted on February 28, there is space not for complacency, but for stock-taking. The question many are asking is deceptively simple: Who won? Mainstream media is, in many cases, painting this as an Iranian victory because [1] the regime survived and [2] Iran still controls the Straits of Hormuz and with it, the world’s oil
Ari Sacher
Finish It or Lose It
President Trump wrote on Truth Social this week that the United States is in serious discussions with “a new, and more reasonable, regime” to end military operations in Iran. Before that deal is struck, one question cuts through everything else. Is this truly a new regime, or the same one rebranded? Any honest answer begins with a number: 30,000. That is the approximate number of Iranian citizens murdered in one week by their own government during the January protests. They
Joan Leslie McGill
Iran's Cluster Munitions
Since February 28, 2026, Iran has launched dozens of ballistic missiles at Israel. Strikingly, about half of these missiles have carried cluster warheads – at least 19 cluster-bearing missiles have penetrated Israeli airspace and struck urban centers, causing at least nine fatalities and dozens of injuries. These attacks are not just a tactical escalation; they are a deliberate violation of international humanitarian norms. Cluster munitions differ fundamentally from regular
Ari Sacher
Who Won?
Passover has passed over. The guns have fallen silent, at least temporarily. For the first time since Epic Fury (in the U.S.) and Lion’s Roar (in Israel) erupted on February 28, there is space not for complacency, but for stock-taking. The question many are asking is deceptively simple: Who won? Mainstream media is, in many cases, painting this as an Iranian victory because [1] the regime survived and [2] Iran still controls the Straits of Hormuz and with it, the world’s oil
Ari Sacher
18 hours ago3 min read
Finish It or Lose It
President Trump wrote on Truth Social this week that the United States is in serious discussions with “a new, and more reasonable, regime” to end military operations in Iran. Before that deal is struck, one question cuts through everything else. Is this truly a new regime, or the same one rebranded? Any honest answer begins with a number: 30,000. That is the approximate number of Iranian citizens murdered in one week by their own government during the January protests. They
Joan Leslie McGill
Apr 23 min read
Iran's Cluster Munitions
Since February 28, 2026, Iran has launched dozens of ballistic missiles at Israel. Strikingly, about half of these missiles have carried cluster warheads – at least 19 cluster-bearing missiles have penetrated Israeli airspace and struck urban centers, causing at least nine fatalities and dozens of injuries. These attacks are not just a tactical escalation; they are a deliberate violation of international humanitarian norms. Cluster munitions differ fundamentally from regular
Ari Sacher
Mar 303 min read
True Measure of Success
This morning, many Israelis awoke in a funk. Saturday, March 21, was a difficult day. Since the fourth day of the war, Iran has still been managing to fire between 10-20 missiles a day at Israel. Out of the 400 or so missiles fired on Israel in this span, there have been 6 direct hits. Two of them happened yesterday. Both of them in the south of the country: One in the town of Arad and the other in the town of Dimona. In both cases, two interceptors were launched to shoot dow
Ari Sacher
Mar 234 min read
The Switchboard For Global Trade
For the past several weeks, Iranian missiles and drones have been flying across the Persian Gulf toward the United Arab Emirates. Air defenses have intercepted the vast majority of them. The damage on the ground has been limited. The headlines come and go. But focusing only on the military exchange misses the larger story. What is happening to the UAE may be an early signal of something much bigger. If the conflict with Iran is part of the emerging global rivalry between the
Ari Sacher
Mar 173 min read
Light Faster Than Drones
Since the opening of the Epic Fury / Roar of the Lion war last week, Iran has made its strategic choice clear. It is not trying to win the air war in a classic sense. It is trying to bankrupt its adversaries. Wave after wave of low-cost Shahed suicide drones have been launched toward the Gulf States – at the UAE, Bahrain, and Kuwait – with the UAE bearing the brunt. By the end of the first week of battle, more than 1,300 drones had been fired at the Emirates alone. Most were
Ari Sacher
Mar 93 min read
Gotta Run. Alarm. Here We Go Again...
Wars are often described in terms of power: who has more of it, who used it first, who escalated. That framing is comforting to those who want moral symmetry where none exists. Operation Lion’s Roar (Operation Epic Fury in the U.S.) is not about symmetry. It is about choice. Specifically, how power is used, and what a society believes is worth protecting. On Saturday morning, Israel and the United States acted. Not theatrically. Not impulsively. They acted after Iran had exha
Ari Sacher
Mar 53 min read
True Victory
I just finished listening to a talk that described Israel’s victory in 1948 as “partially victorious.” The speaker highlighted that while the fledgling state survived the invasion by five Arab armies, it lost vital territories – the Old City of Jerusalem, the Etzion Bloc, and other lands allocated under the UN partition plan – and endured heartbreaking losses, with a full one percent of the population killed. In that moment of existential peril, mere survival was hailed as vi
Ari Sacher
Feb 233 min read
Idan Amedi
For American readers trying to make sense of Israel’s internal arguments, it is tempting to divide voices neatly into camps: hawks and doves, right and left, security and morality. But some of the fiercest battles in Israel today are not between extremes. They are aimed squarely at the shrinking middle. Few figures illustrate this better than Idan Amedi, an actor turned soldier whose refusal to speak in absolutes has made him a target across the political spectrum. On Friday
Ari Sacher
Feb 93 min read
Lasers In Golden Dome
The United States’ ambition to construct a “Golden Dome” for missile defense reflects a sober recognition of today’s threat environment. Precision-guided missiles, rockets, artillery, mortars, and uncrewed aerial systems are no longer the preserve of great powers. They are cheap, proliferated, and increasingly used to overwhelm even the most sophisticated defenses through saturation. They can be launched from off the coast from a boat or even in country from a truck, as in Op
Ari Sacher
Feb 23 min read
Here We Go Again
Things in Iran are once again boiling over. For nearly two weeks, the regime has imposed one of the most sweeping, sophisticated internet blackouts ever attempted, cutting tens of millions off from the outside world while protests roil the streets. Independent monitors and major outlets describe a near-total shutdown that began on January 8, with connectivity throttled even for domestic services, a blackout designed not only to silence dissent, but to bury the evidence of wha
Ari Sacher
Jan 264 min read
Never Again Was Meant For Everyone
“Never again” wasn’t supposed to be a Jewish slogan. It was meant to be a human one. Yet as Iran’s rulers beat, jail, and shoot their own citizens behind a manufactured cloak of digital darkness, much of the world shrugs, looks away, or, even worse, outsources its conscience to the news cycle. When visibility fades, so does outrage. And regimes know it. Over the past weeks, Iran has imposed nationwide internet blackouts, throttling mobile networks and cutting off external con
Ari Sacher
Jan 234 min read
Process Over Outcome
When a government appears brittle and its society restless, the temptation for outside powers is to accelerate history through sharp rhetoric and firm warnings. Iran’s current crisis has produced exactly this debate in Washington, including whether references to the possible use of force can help guide events toward a better outcome. The President has been very clear in his warnings to the Iranian leaders that force against the protestors will be met with force. The question
Ari Sacher
Jan 124 min read
The Middle East One Step Closer to Peace
Last week, Israel quietly made history. For the first time in over three decades, a nation officially recognized Somaliland as an independent state. This move is far more than a diplomatic gesture. It is a strategic gem, a bold stroke that underscores Israel’s growing role as the regional superpower it has become. Somaliland, on the northeast tip of Somalia in equatorial Eastern Africa, is not just another name on the map. It declared independence in 1991 and has since functi
Ari Sacher
Jan 53 min read
A Safe Haven
A few weeks ago, a British television host stopped a young couple at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. They had just moved to Israel from the UK, pushing a stroller, smiling in the winter sun. When asked how it felt, their answer was simple: for the first time in years, they felt safe walking around. The interviewer called it surreal – safe in a place the world still calls a war zone. But for me, and for many Israelis, it is not surreal at all. It is clarifying. Safety is not ab
Ari Sacher
Dec 22, 20254 min read
The Iron Beam
In just a few weeks, the Israel Defense Forces will cross a threshold that air defenders have dreamed about for decades. For the first time anywhere, a laser system called “Iron Beam” will stand beside Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and Arrow-2 and Arrow-3 as part of a fully operational air defense architecture. A beam of coherent light will quite literally help keep Israel’s skies clean. Iron Beam is a High Energy Laser Weapon System (HELWS), a 100-kilowatt class laser that can b
Ari Sacher
Dec 15, 20253 min read
Gaza Peace Plan
The first phase of President Trump’s much-publicized 21-point Gaza peace plan is, for all intents and purposes, complete. The world watched as all living Israeli hostages were released, and all but one of the bodies of the dead were returned. For a brief moment, there was a sense of closure, a sense that, perhaps, the impossible had been achieved. But as anyone familiar with the region knows, in the Middle East, closure is always temporary, and the next phase is always more c
Ari Sacher
Dec 8, 20254 min read
"Shabbat Irgun"
For anyone in Israel with children in the Bnei Akiva youth movement, you know that this week is “Shabbat Irgun.” You know this because you have barely seen your children for the past seven days. They have been at the clubhouse – “ snif ,” in Hebrew – painting murals on the walls, learning their dances, their plays, and for some, their bicycle acrobatics. On Saturday night, the newest – the youngest – “tribe” gets their name, a name they will keep forever. I know this because
Ari Sacher
Dec 1, 20254 min read
This Is Not A Call For Vengeance. It Is A Call For Clarity.
On September 2, 1945, aboard the USS Missouri, Japan signed an instrument of unconditional surrender. There were no negotiations, no concessions, no “confidence-building measures.” The message was clear: the war was over, and Japan had lost – completely. That moment marked the beginning of a transformation that turned a militaristic empire into a peaceful democracy. It happened because the Allies understood that evil ideologies cannot be managed; they must be eradicated. Fast
Ari Sacher
Nov 24, 20253 min read
Support or Overstep? Trump's Call for a Netanyahu Pardon
Donald Trump has never been the kind of leader who tiptoes around sensitive issues. Anyone who has been following his presidency knows that subtlety is not his chosen instrument. He speaks directly, he speaks boldly, and he speaks from conviction. So when he sent a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog urging a pardon for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it felt entirely in character. To President Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is on trial for political corruption,
Ari Sacher
Nov 17, 20254 min read
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