A Battle for the Soul of the Middle East

Storytelling is the essence of who we are as people. It is the epitome of the human experience. Life is all about the stories we hear, those we believe, and those we tell ourselves about the world.

Now is the time to start telling the story of Israel’s war since October 7th and beyond. Over the past year and a half, I have spoken to many media outlets and U.S. audiences about the war in the Middle East: Hamas’s unprecedented massacre, and the ensuing IDF campaigns in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran. As Israel is fighting on the ground on so many fronts, a grand battle is being waged for the very legitimacy of Israel’s war—on social media and in the press—meant to undermine Israel and prevent its victory. This war of words is not insignificant as it is the one that should allow Israel the time and conditions to achieve its goals, but are we telling the right story?

On Tuesday morning, June 24, President Trump’s announced ceasefire between Israel and Iran entered into force. It concluded 12 (plus) days of direct confrontation between the two nations, one whose current round started 627 days ago, when Iran’s proxy, Hamas, breached the border with Israel and committed unspeakable atrocities.

This unique moment in history, which ended with a strategic victory for the Jewish State of unimaginable proportions, demands that we pause and observe the true nature of the battle Israel is waging. Israel has launched this campaign against Iran to rid it of its nuclear capabilities, we heard, as well as its dangerous ballistic missile program. Many words have been commonplace in the course of this war—missiles, terror, nuclear, ballistic, enriched uranium, bunker-busters, etc.—all meant to “convince” and “explain” the situation on the ground.

However, we owe it to ourselves to step back from the details and observe the bigger picture of what transpires in the Middle East.

On Monday, June 23, Israel bombarded the notorious Evin Prison in northern Tehran, one of the main symbols of the Islamic Republic’s regime of oppression and torture against their own people. Young Iranians who dared to stand up for their basic human rights found themselves confined, humiliated, and tortured there, and hundreds of them never made it out alive. The mere name Evin still sends shivers down the spines of many—behind and beyond—the iron wall of the evil regime to the East.

This symbolic attack tells the real story unfolding before us.

For too long, the shadow of the Islamic Republic of Iran has stretched across the Middle East, a regime built on ideological expansionism, regional destabilization, and a chilling disregard for human rights. Through its intricate network of proxy forces—Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, Houthi rebels in Yemen, and various Shi’ite militias in Iraq and Syria—Tehran has exported its terror and oppression, undermining sovereignty, stifling the aspirations for freedom among countless people, immiserating humanity by the millions. The pursuit of a nuclear weapon by this regime represents not merely a regional threat but also a global existential danger capable of plunging the world into an even darker abyss.

In this crucible of conflict, Israel finds itself on the front lines, fighting a war of profound necessity and undeniable justice. Beyond the immediate imperative of self-defense, Israel’s struggle carries a more profound significance. In a region often defined by autocratic rule, religious extremism, and the suppression of individual liberties, Israel stands as a singular bastion of democracy and a beacon of freedom. As Israel takes on the forces of oppression, it is fighting for a future where human dignity, economic prosperity, and individual liberties can flourish.

As Israel takes on the forces of oppression, it is fighting for a future where human dignity, economic prosperity, and individual liberties can flourish.

The story we tell, ourselves and others, matters. How many times have we allowed our enemies to tell our story? Allowed them to define us? How many times have Hamas apologists hidden behind “the plight of children” and their “call for justice”? It is nothing new, though it is especially infuriating when these statements are made in support of the very organizations that inflict all that suffering on their own populations.

Now imagine the headlines you will never see on mainstream media, telling Israel’s current story like it is: “Israel, the great redeemer of the Middle East”:

• Fighting to free Palestinians of Hamas’s indoctrination and cruel rule, giving them a chance to rehabilitate themselves and hope for a better future.
• Freeing the Lebanese people from Hezbollah’s stranglehold, opening a window for actual Lebanese sovereignty, which has been missing for decades.
• Toppling the Assad regime in Syria, which has massacred many in the service of the Iranian war machine and their aspirations of regional hegemony.
• Fighting the Houthis in Yemen, where, after ten years of war, the country remains one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with almost 5 million people currently displaced and hundreds of thousands of dead and injured.
• And now, fighting the evil empire in Tehran, attacking a regime that has not just been at war with the entire region and world but with its very own.

Ignoring emotional elements has proven detrimental to our ability to tell a compelling story. Only a combination of cerebral and emotional arguments and language, a mix of the heart and the mind, can capture this compelling story of Israel’s grand battle for humanity.

Only a combination of cerebral and emotional arguments and language, a mix of the heart and the mind, can capture this compelling story of Israel’s grand battle for humanity.

Now, how does the story end, you might ask? Israel cannot dictate regime changes, but through its just and righteous battle, it could provide an opportunity for the oppressed to rise and claim their freedom.

This is not merely a story of a geopolitical clash but rather of a great battle for the soul of the Middle East. Israel’s choices today in confronting the architects of regional instability define not just its own destiny but also the very possibility of a more just, free, and peaceful future for many peoples all across the Middle East.

May it be.

Shahar Azani is a passionate advocate for Israel and a frequent contributor to various media outlets focusing on Israel, Jewish issues and the Middle East. He is the CEO of the Book Family Foundation as well as Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Jet Support Services, Inc. (JSSI). Azani was formerly Senior Vice President at JBS, former Executive Director for StandWithUs in New York and served at Israel’s Foreign Ministry for 16 years, focusing on international media and public diplomacy.