In G-d (and Preemptive Strikes) We Trust

In case you missed it, early Sunday morning, 100 Israel Air Force (IAF) fighter jets preemptively struck thousands of Hezbollah rocket launchers across southern Lebanon — launchers that were going to fire at Tel Aviv and northern Israel at 5 a.m. The IAF thwarted a major attack against two-thirds of Israel (the central and northern areas), in an incredible show of might, intelligence and preemption. 

The attack offered three reminders: First, Oct. 7 was nothing short of a metaphorical sledgehammer to Israel’s decades-long mystique as a preemptive powerhouse. On an emotional level, Israel needed Sunday’s strikes, especially given that it finally conducted a major preemptive operation after nearly a year of tit-for-tat violent exchanges with Hezbollah. 

Second, even preemption has its limits. Just ask the 60,000 Israelis who still cannot return to their homes in the north because Hezbollah could still annihilate them and their loved ones.

And third, we inevitably take Israel’s preemptive strikes for granted. After the incredible IAF strikes in Lebanon on Sunday, most Jews in the Diaspora worldwide didn’t seem to bat an eye. 

Perhaps we can’t bring ourselves to have total faith in Israeli intelligence again after Oct. 7 (it’s a sad and unjust thought). Or perhaps we have become accustomed to Israeli preemptive strikes, whether in Lebanon, Syria or Iran, because we know that a country that is surrounded by so many venomous enemies cannot afford to be reactive. 

But I have always treated Israeli preemptive measures as singular miracles. Perhaps it is because I was born in and spent part of my childhood in the Middle East. In that region of the world, no one can afford to leave things to chance or, worse, to assign good intentions to nefarious foes (if only more leftist protesters who excuse Hamas’ atrocities understood this principle).

I still remember my parents’ strategy for preventing scorpions from entering our home back in Tehran: They preemptively trapped and destroyed the scorpions before they could even reach several yards from our steps. “If they’re already approaching us,” my father warned, “We’ve lost the upper hand. Don’t ever delay safety.”

What those 100 Israeli fighter jets accomplished this weekend in annihilating thousands of Hezbollah rocket launchers was nothing short of miraculously life-saving. But gratitude also leaves space to acknowledge reality. Israel must increase its preemptive measures against Hezbollah and its proxy, Iran, until each one of those 60,000 citizens is able to return home. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised that the strike wasn’t “the end of the story.” Let’s hope so. It’s devastating to balance the dream of Israel as a first-world, thriving democracy with the current reality of an Israel with tens of thousands of abandoned homes in the north, a massacre against communities in the south, and an economy that is struggling so badly that even most of the souvenir shops in the Old City of Jerusalem are closed. 

In a weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said, “The IDF intercepted all the drones that Hezbollah launched at strategic targets in the center of the country. [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah in Beirut and [Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei in Tehran should know that this is another step on the path to changing the situation in the north and returning our residents safely to their homes.”

I am certain that Israelis appreciate what transpired early this week. Perhaps the residents who have fled the north also appreciate that their long-abandoned homes are also a little safe. But more than anything, I am certain that they want to return home. 

Regarding opening our eyes to miracles, I love to keep company with those who remain in a life-long state of wonder; indeed, the ability to identify and celebrate the wondrous may distinguish the young from the old, the content from the unhappy, and the grateful from the perpetually-lacking. 

It may sound strange, but I believe that pausing in wondrous awe and gratitude over a preemptive air strike is a metaphor for living life with intent, decimating passivity along the way. It also permeates other spaces and thoughts, prompting us to contemplate the many instances in which we have experienced miracles small and large through early action. 

As children, how many times did our parents preempt disasters that would have irreparably hurt us? Every vaccine, every demand to buckle a seatbelt, and every time they advocated for us, whether at the office of a dismissive doctor or a hard-hearted school administrator, was a preemptive act fueled by love. 

As adults, do we ever thank ourselves for preempting danger, catastrophes or illnesses through our choices? And who else in our lives continuously takes action to ensure we are physically, emotionally and spiritually secure?

Did the world, and Middle Eastern states in particular, ever thank Israel and the pilots of those 14 fighter jets for destroying the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq in June 1981, or the ones who took out the Syrian nuclear reactor in September 2007? I would bet a lot of money that there still are fools today who insist that Israel was wrong to fly into another country’s sovereign air space and aggressively attack those innocent regimes’ nuclear reactors. I’ll also bet that those are some of the same fools who will again attempt to pitch tents on campuses this fall and label Hamas and Hezbollah “freedom fighters.”

If Israel preemptively saves the world from a nuclear Islamic Republic of Iran, there will be celebrations in Tel Aviv and demonstrations in Dearborn. 

It also merits asking how many Jews of my generation (and younger) hold their breath in grateful disbelief over what Israel accomplished one June morning in 1967 by suddenly and astonishingly destroying 90% of Egypt’s air force, as the Egyptian planes and jets still sat on the tarmac, and by similarly obliterating Syria’s air force. Not even Jordanian and Iraqi airfields were spared. 

Six years later, Egypt and Syria attempted to invade Israel during the Yom Kippur War with more tanks and fewer fighter jets. An entire generation of Israelis was saved. 

Today, Israel is engaged in another preemptive war: a war to save the West from the kind of fanatic Islamists who have threatened Jews for centuries. Israelis understand that this war began with Israel, but aims to end with America, Europe and the West. Meanwhile, the West is preoccupied with banning plastic straws and putting privileged white people in their place.   

If, in 50 years, most young Westerners still convey love and pride in Western values of liberalism, meritocracy and democracy (and American flags, rather than Palestinian ones, hang from campus buildings and light poles on proverbial Main Streets), will we ever thank Israel for having fought preemptively on the front lines for our freedom to enjoy outdoor festivals and more importantly, to sing along at Taylor Swift concerts? Regarding the latter, I have yet to hear Austrian officials declare that Jerusalem and Vienna are fighting a common enemy.

If, in 50 years, most young Westerners still convey love and pride in Western values of liberalism, meritocracy and democracy … will we ever thank Israel for having fought preemptively on the front lines for our freedom?

In the months ahead, as Jews worldwide continue to hold their collective breath and pray for Israel’s safety (and the safe return of the hostages in Gaza), we may learn of more preemptive strikes. Let’s be grateful for everything they will avert, and never lose sight of everything that must be restored. 

Finally, it’s important to note that as usual, America received prior notice of this weekend’s massive Israeli airstrike, and gave its blessing, but not before warning Israel to avoid triggering a much larger regional war. And as always, Americans could learn a thing or two from Israelis. 

At this moment, when our enemies are more emboldened and well-funded as ever, even our national motto could benefit from a temporary addition: “In G-d (and Preemptive Strikes) We Trust.”

Tabby Refael is an award-winning writer, speaker and weekly columnist for The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Follow her on X and Instagram @TabbyRefael.