America Must Stand With Israel - Even if Trump Can't Stand Still.

We need leadership, not confusion, at the top.

It’s times like these - in the fog of war, when decisions made a thousand miles away affect us here - that we must hold fast to some basic foreign policy truths.

First and foremost, Israel is a close American ally. That’s not just a talking point—it’s a strategic reality. And yes, dealing with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can be deeply frustrating – as a Democrat, no one has to tell me that! But Netanyahu is not Israel, just as any president is not America. The bond between our countries transcends leaders. It’s built on shared values, democratic principles, and mutual security interests.

And those interests are under direct assault.

Iran, let’s be clear, was on the very edge of developing a nuclear weapon. That’s not political spin. While Iran, according to our intelligence community, had not made a political decision to weaponize its nuclear capacity, it did everything physical to be able to do so. In reality, that’s a distinction without a difference and is very disappointing for me to acknowledge, especially as I’m someone who fought very hard for years, both in and out of government, for a nuclear deal to prevent this situation.

It’s important to recall that when President Trump in 2018 unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal that the Obama Administration negotiated (and never got a new one, despite boasting that he would), Iran did not have enough enriched uranium suitable for a single bomb. Today, it has enough for nearly ten. That is a failure of American foreign policy leadership - and it happened on Trump’s watch.

But today is not 2015. It’s 2025.

What I won’t engage in then is an academic exercise in nonproliferation theory. Iran’s nuclear advances are the fuel behind the fire engulfing the Middle East right now. And while much of the world debates the wisdom of Israel’s preemptive military strikes, Israel is living the reality of Iranian missile strikes deep into its civilian areas.

Imagine what would have happened if those missiles had been nuclear tipped.

Here at home, the political discourse over America’s support for Israel has fractured along troubling lines and is under strain. In the Democratic Party, frustration over Gaza has sparked moral concerns about civilian casualties - but also some deeply misguided narratives that question Israel’s very legitimacy. Meanwhile, the Republican Party is in open conflict with itself, torn between reflexive hawkishness and Trump’s “America First” isolationism, with some calling for America to walk away from Israel.

As a result, the Republican confusion is playing out in real time in Trump’s own schizophrenic messaging. One moment he’s praising Israeli military strength, the next he’s suggesting diplomacy with Tehran, and the next he’s claiming that none of this would have happened if he were president.

Hogwash. It just did.

The truth is that a major new war has erupted with Donald Trump in the White House. And just as with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it exposes the fallacy that Trump’s tough-guy swagger is some kind of deterrent. It’s not. It’s performative. And in the face of real-world conflict, it’s incoherent. It’s no wonder that we’re in the mess we’re in.

So the question now becomes: Will Trump act? Will he deploy America’s diplomatic weight, or even its military capabilities, to end this war? Will he have the wherewithal to back Israel with more than rhetoric? If Trump truly wants to halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions, he has options—diplomatic and kinetic. But time is not on our side. And every day of indecision gives Israel more reason to act unilaterally.

And as we navigate these complexities, we must not forget the fundamentals.

America has a vital national interest in the stability of the Middle East. Its geographic centrality, control over global energy supplies, and proximity to shipping lanes mean that chaos in the region reverberates globally. Add to this the demographic surge of young, disaffected populations - fertile ground for extremism - and it’s obvious why retreating from engagement is not an option. If we don’t shape the region’s future, others, like our adversaries in Russia and China, will.

Military action, as well, is never predictable. Civilians in both Israel and Iran are suffering deeply and will continue to be killed. But neither is diplomacy a magic wand. Too often, diplomatic inertia lets threats metastasize. We must be realistic about the limits of both approaches, and wise enough to know when to use each.

What we cannot afford is paralysis, nor can we indulge in performative politics.

Americans understandably are wary of “forever wars.” I get that. I’ve spent my career working to end them. Democrats led the charge to end the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and yes, now Trump mimics the rhetoric. But this isn’t about another American military occupation or ground war in the Middle East. This is about nuclear deterrence. It’s about preventing one of the world’s most dangerous regimes from getting the world’s most dangerous weapons.

So, where does this leave us?

It leaves us needing leadership - steadfast, principled, and clear-eyed. It leaves us needing to reaffirm our bond with Israel - not as an endorsement of any single government, but as a commitment to an ally under siege. It leaves us needing to contain Iran, diplomatically, if possible, decisively if necessary. And it leaves us needing a president who understands the gravity of this moment—not one hoping that confusion will suffice as strategy.

The United States must act. Not later. Now.

Stand with Israel. Stop Iran. Speak the truth. Lead decisively. That is how peace is protected. That is how wars end.