How could it be? How was the Israeli army able to carry out a pinpoint killing of the leading scientist behind the Iranian nuclear program while he was sleeping in his bed on the upper floor of a high-rise apartment building? How was the Israeli army able to kill him there in his bed while not only sparing the rest of the residents of that building, but even his family, sleeping just a few yards away?
How did the Israeli army have such precise intelligence to know exactly where the generals and leading command and control figures in the IRGC, Iran’s intelligence and army leaders, would be so that they were able to pick them off one by one on June 13th? Yet, when it came to October 7th, they had such little intelligence that somehow they let in hundreds of savages on pickup trucks to indiscriminately maim, ravage and kill more than a thousand Jews with no one able to stop them?
How could it be that on June 13, 2025, the Israelis were so competent that they were able to build a drone factory in Iran under the very noses of the Iranians, a drone factory that was able to disable so many of the Iranians’ rocket launchers and other systems, but on October 7, 2023, they couldn’t stop a low-tech infiltration of uncouth savages using paragliders to scale a wall separating Israel and Gaza, enabling them to take hostages and brutally murder innocent civilians as they gleefully took videos with GoPro cameras?
Is this the same army? Is this the same Mossad? Are these the same intelligence people who know everything about an enemy thousands of miles away but knew nothing about the designs and plans of a brutal enemy next door?
A Shabbos of Uncertainty
I couldn’t help but contemplate these questions over this past Shabbos. Yes, it was a very difficult Shabbos for Yidden all over the world. For those in Eretz Yisroel, it was certainly difficult, with sirens wailing multiple times throughout Shabbos, compelling Yidden to run into shelters.
For us in chutz la’aretz, the uncertainty was maddening. Just before Shabbos, we heard about ballistic missile strikes in several locations in Eretz Yisroel. We saw that Israel’s defense systems were good but far from foolproof, and throughout Shabbos, we wondered what was happening, davening that there should be no korbanos. Those of us with children and grandchildren in Eretz Yisroel couldn’t stop thinking about them. What were they doing? Were they cowering in bomb shelters? Were the kids scared and traumatized?
We davened, and we must still daven. This war is far from over, and if there is anything that we have learned over the past two-plus years, it is that we have no one to rely on other than Avinu Shebashomayim.
One Simple Answer: Hashem
Indeed, the ultimate answer to the questions that I have posed is a simple one: because that is what Hashem wanted. When Hashem wants, the most vaunted army and the most brilliant of intelligence agencies are blind. At the same time, when He wants, those same people can send a guided missile to pick off a nuclear scientist in his bed while sparing the rest of his family…
“Im Hashem lo yishmor ihr, shov shokad shomer.” If Hashem doesn’t protect the city, all of the efforts of the protectors are useless.
The Importance of Looking Back
The truth is that it is important for us to take at least a small glance at the open Hashgochas Hashem that we have seen after the great hester ponim of the Hamas attacks on Simchas Torah, 5784, now known by the wider world as October 7th.
Everyone knows that the Iranian nuclear program has been in various stages of development for nearly twenty years. Already in 2010 and 2012, there were times when the Israelis were about to strike but, for various reasons, were not able to. It was not a secret that the Iranians were obfuscating, lying, and fooling the world about their intentions. Even the supposed deals that they made with the Obama administration to slow down their programs were strategic moves to buy time so that they could keep on producing nuclear material that would ultimately enable them to produce a bomb and the missiles to deliver the payload.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu wanted very much to take it out, but he was cautious. He was terrified that an attack on Iran would immediately invite a response from Iran’s proxies in the region. Hezbollah, next door in Lebanon, had thousands of missiles trained on Israeli population centers. Syria, not far away, also had very significant military capability. And of course, Hamas was just next door.
The Wake-Up Call
What happened? October 7th happened. Hashem sent a terrible day of hester ponim that caused so much suffering—suffering that is still going on as hostages languish in Hamas terror tunnels. At the same time, however, October 7th woke up the complacent Israelis. The ensuing military campaign not only destroyed Hamas, but also drew Hezbollah into the conflict and enabled the Israelis to respond to their aggression in a way that robbed them of much of their capability and neutralized a large part of their arsenal. The beeper attack was a master stroke of intelligence and once again showed us that when Hashem wants, so much can be accomplished, and when Hashem deems it necessary, so much destruction can be brought upon us, as it was on October 7th.
Some More Pieces of the Puzzle
Then what did Hashem do? He staged an uprising in Syria by what seemed to be a small, unorganized band of terrorists. Perhaps small, perhaps unorganized, but they were able to topple the ruthless Assad regime, thus neutralizing the third imminent threat from Iran’s proxies in Syria.
Until recently, there was another problem, and that problem was in Washington. The Democrats running the Biden White House forbade Netanyahu from attacking Iran. They hated Netanyahu and adhered to the foolish Obama doctrine of propping up Iran and using it to balance out the other Arab players in the region.
It was only the change in Washington—where President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu were in close coordination, and statements from Washington hinted that a deal with Iran might still be possible—that allowed them to devise a ruse to lull the Iranians into a false sense of security. It was only because the Trump administration clearly understood the threat posed by a nuclear Iran that the Israelis received the green light to launch their attack.
So let us stop for a second to look at Hashem’s Hand in history, moving all the chess pieces to the right places to make this time of June 13th ripe for an Israeli attack on Iran.
Astonishing Hashgocha: Not to Be Confused with Complacency
The hester ponim of October 7th led to the fall of Hamas, the fall of Hezbollah, the fall of Syria, and now the change in Washington that all led to the window of opportunity that opened now to try to finally cut off the head of the snake.
The Hashgocha is astounding.
At the same time, however, this should not make us complacent. First and foremost, we mustn’t fall into the trap of kochi v’otzem yodi of the Israeli army. Remember that it was the same army and the same intelligence agents who could do nothing when a few hundred or a few thousand primitive savages overcame the south of the country and had free rein to kill and torture for a full day.
When Hashem wants, He gives them capabilities, and when He wants, He robs them of those same capabilities.
Let us remember that as the children of Yaakov, our main weapon is the kol Yaakov. We can only use Eisav’s tools when our kol Yaakov is activated first. Our power is with tefillah and Torah. As the war continues, let us remember the real battlefront. Let us remember that Hashem is the Ish Milchamah, and let us daven that He look at us with me’or ponim. After all, it was with Ohr Ponecha that You gave us Torah and chssed, and only when we merit that Ohr Ponecha can we merit the ultimate brocha of beshlomecha, that Hashem will bless us with shalom, may it come quick and easy.
