Peace through strength: Where it matters, Israel is becoming more accepted

I am in no position to predict the final outcome of the Iran-Israel conflict, but from a historical perspective, the odds of Israel emerging stronger are quite favourable. Israel has become the definitive “peace-through-strength” nation, gradually gaining international acceptance by making its eradication impossible. Countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco have decided that “if you cannot beat them, join them,” while Jordan, Egypt, and even Saudi Arabia, though not fond of the “Zionist Entity,” no longer oppose its existence. In fact, if one ignores sensational headlines and focuses on the realities on the ground, Iran and the Palestinians are more isolated than Israel. This isolation likely explains their quasi-alliance, a decision for which they are now paying dearly.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated in 2015 that Israel would not “see the next 25 years; God willing, there will be nothing as Zionist regime […]. Secondly, until then, struggling, heroic and jihadi morale will leave no moment of serenity for Zionists.” One might wonder how “serene” his sleep is now, as the Zionist regime stands on firmer ground than the mullahs in Tehran. The so-called heroic jihadi fighters from Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and others have been decimated in stunning operational successes by the Israeli armed forces and intelligence services, leaving them a shadow of their former selves. Even the often-mentioned “Arab Street,” expected to rise in support of their Muslim brethren and sweep away governments from Egypt to Saudi Arabia, has remained surprisingly calm. If anything, acceptance of Israel has only grown over the last two generations.

Since the landmark Egypt-Israel peace treaty in 1979, the regional climate has shifted. Egypt’s primary motivation was to regain sovereignty over the Sinai Peninsula, lost to Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War. The return of this territory was a central national objective for then-President Anwar Sadat, who saw negotiation as the path to reclaim it and recognised that the Arab states could not win a conventional war against Israel. Although Sadat was assassinated in 1981, history has vindicated his position. Jordan followed with its peace treaty in 1994, and the Abraham Accords of 2020 brought normalised diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan.

Despite a rocky start in 1948, including numerous wars with its neighbours, Israel’s diplomatic tenacity and strong military and intelligence services have gradually worn down opposition to its existence. This does not mean that no mistakes have been made along the way; the expansion of settlements and the intelligence failure of October 7, 2023, are two notable examples. Nevertheless, Israel has steadily increased its legitimacy, reaching a point where even those who have not fully recognised it de jure do so de facto, such as Saudi Arabia. Unlike the 1970s, when OPEC and its Arab members initiated an oil embargo in response to the Six-Day War, neither the Iranians nor the Palestinians can hope for similar action from fellow Muslims in the region. Jordan is shooting down Iranian drones, and Saudi Arabia is allowing Israeli air force operations over its territory.

The regional political landscape has shifted in Jerusalem’s favour, not so much through shrewd diplomacy, but by being the most formidable military power. Those who claim that “arms are for hugging” have likely never spent a day in the Middle East, where strength is not seen as “toxic masculinity” but as the currency that secures a state’s sovereignty.

Israel may be isolated in faculty lounges and college campuses from Boston to Berlin, but where it truly matters, the Jewish state is becoming more, not less, accepted. For Jerusalem, recognition by its immediate neighbours is far more significant than anything written in Western op-ed pages. The ability to wage war on several fronts effectively and to cut off one head after another from the Iranian Hydra will only increase Israel’s respect in the Arab world. For Israel and its people, “peace through strength” is not just a slogan—it is reality.