Morning Glory: Israel strikes back 

Take a bow, Lockheed Martin. The company’s F-35 was just on lethal display and the order books of the aerospace giant must be filling up as quickly as the United States grants the export licenses. 
 
Israel’s fleet of F-35s flew in and out of the Islamic Republic of Iran, took on and out the mullahs’ strategic air defense — the S-300 missile systems provided by Russia as well as Iranian-developed next generation batteries of missiles. Iran is now essentially naked and afraid if Israel is provoked. 
 
Proof of concept for the most advanced stealth fighter Israel has? There could not be greater testimony on behalf of the F-35 beyond the damage it did in Iran and at the length it reached with the help of refueling along the way. 

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Iran has had two swings at Israel now, two massive barrages of missiles at the Jewish State, and two huge misses. Some Israelis were injured, including a young Bedouin girl, and some minor damage done here and there. But Iran was embarrassed by its two failed attempted retaliations for Israeli actions, and then humiliated by Israel’s very precise and unstoppable Air Force. 

Israeli Air Force planes departing for the strikes in Iran on Oct. 26. (IDF Spokesman's Unit)

If Iran tries a third strike on the Jewish State, Israel will surely call the mullahs out with a devastating response aimed at Iran’s nascent nuclear program and Iran’s oil production and shipping facilities. Whatever the United States did to impose restraints on Israel would likely be removed if former President Donald Trump becomes future President Trump.  

Indeed, even if Vice President Kamala Harris somehow wins — and that is still very possible — her demands will fall on deaf ears. Israel’s existence is on the line now that Iran has dared act directly against the Jewish State. Neither Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu nor any successor can stand back and absorb such attacks without a reaction. Iran knows that now. 

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The F-35 has inspired many stories critical of its cost, with a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report estimating that the program will cost the United States more than $2 trillion over its lifetime. This is a significant increase from the 2018 estimate of $1.7 trillion. That’s a lot of money. 
 
But not a single Israeli pilot was lost to a sophisticated defense system (though not the most advanced in the world — the S-400 was an upgrade and Russia is working on the S-500.) America’s Patriot Missile System is considered by some to be inferior to the S-400, but in the stand-off between Israel and Iran, Israel has now demonstrated "escalation dominance" in a way that no one in the region missed. 

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The old "strong horse" versus the "weak horse" paradigm is back in vogue in the Middle East, and Israel has emerged as a very strong horse indeed. While Israel was staggered a year ago by the massacre of 1,200 of its citizens and kidnapping of 250 more, and while its losses since October 7 have been high, with almost 400 IDF soldiers killed in the Gaza and Lebanon theaters of what ought to be considered the first Israel-Iran war, Netanyahu and his government showed the world that if it is provoked by Iran it will no longer accept the hushed urgent appeals from appeasers around the globe including those in the United States. The IDF can strike anywhere in Iran and with precision. 

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Israel also demolished a vast Hezbollah base that was wholly underground, and did so with explosives sufficient to set off earthquake alarms in Israel. 
 
The first year of Israel’s war of survival has been brutal but the IDF has demonstrated extraordinary resilience and adaptability. The attack on Iran is just the latest display of Israeli war-fighting ability. Does Ayatollah Khamenei want to go another round with Israel? He is a fanatical theocrat, and ordinary logic does not apply. But Israel restored deterrence in the past few weeks and especially over the weekend. The whole world should be thanking it. 

Hugh Hewitt is host of "The Hugh Hewitt Show," heard weekday mornings 6am to 9am ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel. Hugh wakes up America on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel’s news roundtable hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990.  Hewitt has frequently appeared on every major national news television network, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American paper, has authored a dozen books and moderated a score of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and his column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump over his 40 years in broadcast, and this column previews the lead story that will drive his radio/ TV show today.

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