By Daniel Sokatch, NIF international CEO
We are living through a moment of uncertainty unlike any other in recent memory. We have been holding our breath since July 31, when an explosion in Tehran, widely attributed to Israel, killed Hamas’s political chief Ismail Haniyeh just hours after an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon killed a top Hezbollah commander, Fuad Shukr. This took place days after a missile from Lebanon, widely attributed to Hezbollah, killed twelve children and teenagers in the Golan Heights.
The leaders of both Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon have vowed to retaliate—and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised, in turn, to “exact a heavy price for any act of aggression against us, from whatever quarter.”
A full-fledged war between Israel and Hezbollah—and Iran by extension, or even directly—now seems like a very real possibility, one that would further destabilize the region, terrorize Israelis, Palestinians, Lebanese, and Iranians alike, and risk terrible consequences with potentially global impact.
Each morning when I wake up, right after I’ve checked the latest news, I check in on colleagues, friends, and family in Israel. They are all bracing for the worst, living with almost unbearable tension, and worrying about what comes next. And yet, they are also carrying on with their lives and, among the NIF community in Israel, continuing to carry out our critically important work during this unbelievably difficult moment.
At times like these, when I need perspective, information, and wisdom, I look to our grantees and to other trusted sources—the deep thinkers, the thoughtful observers, the people who have been considering Israel’s place in the Middle East—what it is and what it could be—for years.
Here is some of what they are saying:
- Nimrod Goren of (NIFC funded partner) Mitvim offers a good, to-the-point analysis on The Monocle’s Globalist podcast about the current moment in Israel. He also wrote a special briefing for the Middle East Institute on the regional impact of Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination.
- A related NIF grantee, the Forum for Regional Thinking, published an article entitled “Political Agreements Instead of War: On Bogus and Genuine Israeli Alternatives” that is as compelling as its title makes it seem. It was written a couple of weeks ago but it has much to offer us in this moment as well.
- Ravit Hecht, a columnist and editor at Haaretz, expresses the sense among many in Israel that there is a disconnect between the assassination of Haniyeh in Iran and Israel’s security needs or the imperative to bring back the hostages.
- On August 1 (it is a testament to the almost absurdly fast moving pace of recent events that this already feels like a year ago), Tom Friedman published this piece in the New York Times, entitled, “America May Soon Face a Fateful Choice About Iran,” which helps contextualize America’s relationship to Iran, as it relates to Israel.
Meanwhile, we at NIF will continue doing what we always do, especially when the going gets tough: hoping, striving, and working for better times.