Many Israelis woke up this week with a sense of strategic vertigo. The emerging agreement between the United States and Iran has landed not as a surprise, but as a shock. The outlines are still murky, but the direction is unmistakable: Washington appears to have moved significantly toward Tehran’s position, conceding ground in pursuit of closure. For Israelis, that closure feels premature. And yet, if we are honest, none of this should be entirely unexpected. The United State

Deterrence is not a scoreboard. It is not measured by the number of missiles intercepted, launchers destroyed, or buildings reduced to rubble. Deterrence is measured by what does not happen. It is measured by the attack that remains unlaunched because the enemy has already calculated the cost and decided it is unbearable. The emerging cycle between Israel, Hezbollah, and Iran is dangerously familiar. Hezbollah fires at Israel. Israel strikes targets in Dahiyeh. Iran launches

There is a quiet, pervasive feeling in Israel today that is difficult to articulate but impossible to ignore. It is not fear in the traditional sense, nor is it panic. It is something more unsettling, a sense that events are moving elsewhere, driven by actors beyond our control, and that the outcome that will determine our future will be decided without us. When Israelis speak about Iran, the conversation always circles back to Washington. Everything, it seems, hinges on whet