I can remember Netanyahu warning America about Iran's nuclear threat in an address to Congress in 2015 -- when Obama was President -- and nobody heeded his words then, either.
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Opinion, by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, 3-24-26
"One of the most persistent and dangerous lies circulating in today’s political discourse is the claim that any American confrontation with Iran-especially under President Donald Trump-is somehow a war “for Israel." It is a falsehood repeated so often that it has begun to calcify into conventional wisdom, echoed by media figures and political commentators who should know better, and some who simply don’t care whether it is true.
"Let’s say it plainly: this is not Israel’s war. It never was. It is America’s war-forced upon it by nearly half a century of Iranian aggression, bloodshed, hostage-taking, and ideological hatred directed first and foremost at the United States.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran did not begin its hostility toward America because of Israel. It began in 1979, the very moment the Ayatollahs seized power, long before any modern American president could be accused of acting at Israel’s behest. From day one, the regime defined itself through hatred of the United States, branding it “the Great Satan" and making confrontation with America a central pillar of its revolutionary identity.
"The first act of this new regime was not against Israel. It was against America.
"In November 1979, Iranian revolutionaries stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took 52 American diplomats and citizens hostage for 444 days. This was not a minor incident. It was a declaration of war in all but name. American citizens were paraded blindfolded before cameras, humiliated, threatened, and used as bargaining chips by a regime that had barely come into existence.
"That single act should have permanently dispelled any illusion about Iran’s intentions. But it was only the beginning.
"Throughout the 1980s, Iran orchestrated and supported attacks that directly targeted American lives. The 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, carried out by Iranian-backed Hezbollah, killed 241 American servicemen. That same year, the U.S. Embassy in Beirut was bombed, killing dozens more. These were not isolated events. They were part of a deliberate strategy by Tehran to drive America out of the Middle East through terror.
"Iranian fingerprints are found on decades of bloodshed.
"During the Iraq War, Iranian-backed militias supplied sophisticated roadside bombs-explosively formed penetrators-that killed and maimed hundreds of American soldiers. These weapons were not improvised in caves; they were engineered, funded, and distributed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. American families buried their sons and daughters because Tehran made a calculated decision to wage proxy war against the United States.
"Even outside conventional battlefields, Iran has pursued Americans relentlessly. It has plotted assassinations on U.S. soil, including a brazen attempt to kill the Saudi ambassador in Washington, D.C., using a cartel hitman-an operation traced directly back to Iranian operatives. It has kidnapped Americans abroad, including journalists, academics, and tourists, holding them as leverage in geopolitical negotiations.
"This is not ancient history. This is a continuous pattern of behavior spanning more than four decades.
"And yet, despite this overwhelming record, a chorus of voices insists on reframing any American response to Iran as somehow being done “for Israel."
"Among the loudest of these voices are media personalities like Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Nick Fuentes, and even Megyn Kelly, who have either directly or indirectly advanced the narrative that American policy toward Iran is driven by Israeli interests rather than American ones.
"This is not just wrong. It is dangerously misleading.
"It suggests that the United States lacks agency, that its leaders are somehow manipulated into conflict by a foreign ally. It erases decades of Iranian aggression against Americans. And perhaps most insidiously, it echoes a deeply troubling historical trope-that Jews or Israel are secretly controlling global events for their own benefit.
"But the facts are stubborn.
'Iran does not chant “Death to Israel" alone. It chants “Death to America" with equal fervor, often placing America first. Its leaders have repeatedly declared their intention to bring about the collapse of the United States as a global power. This is not rhetorical flourish. It is ideological doctrine.
"The Iranian regime’s ambitions extend far beyond Israel. It seeks regional dominance and, ultimately, global influence. It funds and arms terrorist organizations across the Middle East-Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen-all of which have targeted American interests directly or indirectly.
"When American ships are attacked in the Persian Gulf, when U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria come under rocket fire, when American personnel are wounded or killed, these are not Israeli concerns. They are American ones.
"And then there is the nuclear question.
"A nuclear-armed Iran is not merely an Israeli problem. It is a global catastrophe waiting to happen-but first and foremost, it is an existential threat to the United States.
"The idea that Iran would reserve its most devastating weapon for Israel while sparing America defies both logic and history. The regime has consistently demonstrated that its hatred of America is foundational, not incidental. If given the capability, there is every reason to believe that Iran would view an attack on a major American city-New York, Washington, or Los Angeles-as the ultimate act of revolutionary triumph.
'This is not alarmism. It is a sober assessment of a regime that has spent decades declaring its intentions openly.
"The Ayatollahs are not rational actors in the Western sense. They are driven by a messianic ideology that glorifies martyrdom and envisions a world reordered under their interpretation of Islamic governance. Their pursuit of nuclear weapons is not simply about deterrence. It is about power, prestige, and the ability to reshape the global order.
'To pretend otherwise is to ignore everything they have said and done since 1979.
"Critics who claim that confronting Iran is about protecting Israel miss the central point: America is protecting itself.
"No sovereign nation can tolerate a regime that has repeatedly killed its citizens, attacked its interests, taken its people hostage, and openly calls for its destruction-while simultaneously racing toward nuclear capability.
"If anything, the real question is not why America confronts Iran, but why it has taken so long to do so decisively.
"The narrative that this is “Israel’s war" serves only one purpose: to delegitimize American action and to shift blame away from the true aggressor. It allows commentators to posture as anti-war while ignoring the war that Iran has already been waging against the United States for decades.
"It also has a corrosive domestic effect. By framing U.S. policy as being driven by Israel, it feeds suspicion, division, and, ultimately, antisemitism. It suggests that American Jews or the State of Israel are dragging the United States into conflicts that are not its own.
"Nothing could be further from the truth.
"The United States does not need Israel to tell it that Iran is a threat. The evidence is written in blood-American blood-spilled over decades of unprovoked aggression.
"This is not about foreign entanglements or misplaced loyalties. It is about national security in its most fundamental sense.
"Iran has been at war with America since 1979. It has simply been a war fought in shadows-through proxies, terror attacks, cyber operations, and ideological warfare. The question now is whether America is willing to recognize that reality and respond accordingly.
"History teaches a clear lesson: regimes that declare their intentions and act on them should be taken at their word. The cost of ignoring them is measured not in abstract policy debates, but in human lives.
"The biggest lie, then, is not just that this is Israel’s war. It is that America has a choice about whether to be involved.
"Iran made that choice for us nearly half a century ago. It’s time for America to finally neutralize the threat."
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, widely known as “America’s Rabbi", is one of the world’s most recognized and influential Jewish voices. A bestselling author, award-winning columnist, global human rights advocate, and dynamic public speaker, he has dedicated his life to spreading Jewish values, defending the Jewish people, and championing universal human dignity. The international bestselling author of 36 books that have been translated into multiple languages and sold millions of copies worldwide, his writings are known for their boldness, accessibility, and unapologetic defense of morality in the modern age. In 2000, Rabbi Shmuley became the only rabbi to win The Times of London’s prestigious “Preacher of the Year" competition, and remains the record-holder to this day. He has also been honored with the American Jewish Press Association’s highest award for excellence in commentary, cementing his reputation as one of the foremost Jewish communicators in the world. Follow him on Instagram and X @RabbiShmuley.
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