The Logic Behind a Preemptive Strike

Imagine this: there’s a man who lives just down the street. He’s already sent killers to your house. Your children, your neighbors — many were maimed, tortured, raped, kidnapped, murdered. The killers didn’t act alone. The man trained them, funded them, watched as they filmed their crimes with crazy-eyed glee. He’s tried to kill on his own, but without success. Now he’s building a weapon so catastrophic he’s promised — repeatedly and publicly — to use it. And you’ve just learned it may be ready in a matter of months.

You appeal to the authorities. They hold meetings. They issue strongly worded statements. But nothing changes. The man keeps building. He keeps threatening. And eventually, after exhausting every warning, you act.

This is the situation Israel faces — and why it struck Iran.

In Jewish law, there is a principle called rodef — the “pursuer.” If someone is coming to kill you or another innocent person, and there’s no other way to stop them, you are not only permitted but required to intervene — even with lethal force. It’s not about vengeance. It’s about saving lives. Crucially, rodef doesn’t apply only to the defense of oneself. It includes the obligation to protect others — your family, your community, even strangers — if they’re in danger.

This isn’t some narrow, tribal ethic. It’s a universal principle. When someone has both the intention and the means to do irreparable harm, waiting becomes a form of moral failure. Action, though difficult, becomes a duty.

And what’s extraordinary here is that tiny Israel — just a sliver of land on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean — is doing what the entire Western world should have done long ago. Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and its open threats to annihilate another nation are not just an Israeli problem. They are a global one. Israel, invoking rodef, is not only protecting itself. It is standing in the breach for millions who either cannot or will not act.

In April of this year, Iran showed the world what it’s willing to do.

On the night of April 13th, Iran launched the largest direct attack on Israel in modern history. Over 300 projectiles — drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles — were fired at Israeli cities, military bases and civilians. The assault was coordinated with Iranian proxy forces in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

Thanks to Israel’s defense systems — and the assistance of the United States, Jordan and the United Kingdom — almost all of the incoming weapons were intercepted. Still, a few made it through. A young Israeli Bedouin girl was critically injured. Military installations were damaged. The worst was narrowly avoided. But the message from Tehran could not have been clearer: we are coming for you.

This wasn’t a spontaneous outburst. It was the culmination of years of threats, arms buildups, and proxy wars — all directed at the Jewish state. Iran’s leadership has never been vague about its intentions. “Death to Israel” is not a metaphor. It is policy.

Iran has enriched uranium to near-weapons-grade levels. It has blocked inspections, hidden nuclear sites underground, and accelerated its missile development. All while continuing to arm terrorist proxies and call for Israel’s destruction.

Under any moral framework, Iran is not just dangerous—it is an active and ongoing rodef.

Israel’s strike was not an act of aggression. It was an act of prevention. It targeted Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, command centers, and terror-linked networks — operational hubs tied directly to its machinery of violence and death.

Remarkably, many in the region who have suffered under Iran’s regime understand this more clearly than Western observers. A large number of Iranians — especially the young, the exiled, the silenced — have taken to social media not to condemn Israel, but to thank it. Syrians, too, who watched their country ravaged by Iran’s proxy war on behalf of Assad, know exactly who bears responsibility. These are not outliers. They are part of a growing majority who see Israel not as the aggressor, but as the one nation willing to confront a murderous regime that has brought ruin to its own people and chaos to its neighbors.

Some will still criticize Israel. That, too, is predictable. There are always those who demand an impossible level of “restraint” from the world’s only Jewish state — even in the face of existential threat. And yet, it should be plain to see: this tiny nation is taking upon itself the danger that faces the entire Western world.

Peter Himmelman is a Grammy and Emmy nominated performer, songwriter, film composer, visual artist and award-winning author.