My friend Abbas ... and Iran-Israel conflict

Recently, Iran and Israel have dealt a blow to analysts and experts who long denied the existence of genuine hostility between them. Through their actions, both countries have disproved the claims that their apparent disputes and exchanged threats were merely tactics designed to mask behind-the-scenes cooperation and strategic harmony. These analysts had argued that Iran and Israel shared a common goal, which is to intimidate and manipulate the Arab world.
Israel not only destroyed the majority of Iran's nuclear facilities, but, for the second time in history, it eliminated the entire top echelon of a hostile state's leadership without deploying a single soldier and without incurring any significant material losses to date. The first time was during its war against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Neutral observers believe that the situation is unlikely to conclude with any form of Iranian surrender. However, the loss of Iran's military, revolutionary, nuclear, and intelligence leadership may compel the regime to reconsider its strategic calculations, shift focus inward, and employ various methods to silence the opposition. The outcome we have reached was entirely predictable, and I have said so repeatedly.
Weapons, no matter how advanced, dangerous, or effective, are meaningless without the human capacity to operate them. That human capacity must be grounded in the same freedoms, self-respect, and critical thinking enjoyed by citizens in the West. It must also be free from extremism and guided by the belief that the weapon of knowledge is the most powerful when placed in strong, educated hands.
If I were in the place of Iran's adversaries, I would not have hesitated to do exactly what they did, which is to eliminate its ambitions to acquire a nuclear weapon. I simply do not trust Iran's intentions in this regard, especially given that it is the most extremist religious state in the region. The eight-year Iran-Iraq war stands as the clearest evidence that Iran is largely indifferent to the scale of losses that might result from the use of nuclear weapons. This isn't to suggest that I sympathize with Israel, as quite the opposite may be true. I am simply speaking from the perspective of a devil's advocate.
My friend Abbas often says, 'Iran possesses all the elements of survival, resilience, resistance, and retaliation. We must recognize that Iran has, throughout its history, absorbed the patience of chess players and the precision of carpet weavers. We must support it. Iran is the last line of defense against Israel's growing ambitions to reshape the Middle East into a region completely loyal to its vision. Israel will use its military, financial, and technological power to bring everyone under the umbrella of the Abraham Accords. That would be a disaster for Arabs and Muslims. If that happens, we will lose all sense of identity and dignity, and become captives to Israel's agenda.'
I told my friend Abbas that I fully understand his fears, as preserving our dignity is indeed our ultimate goal. But has the Iranian way of life become our ideal? Is Iran truly prepared to treat us as equals, respect our minds, and grant us the freedoms of expression, thought, and belief that we so deeply need? If Iran defeats its enemies, will it free us from one real or virtual prison only to place us in another?
I do not doubt that the Israeli government is deeply extremist, and arguably the most brutal and criminal in the region's modern history. But it does not behave that way toward its own citizens, and that is the true source of its strength. Intelligence agencies in many of our countries struggle to find even a handful of citizens willing to collaborate as spies.
In contrast, Israel receives a steady stream of applications from individuals eager to work with Mossad. Some of them even come from within the intelligence services of Arab states themselves, seeking to become agents, advocates of Israeli narratives, and defenders of its positions. One cannot give what they do not possess.
A lack of dignity, humanity, and an educational system shaped by rigid ideology has left many among us feeling little guilt when cooperating with the enemies of our own nations. This war could end at any moment, and most likely, we will learn nothing from it. We will simply return to our old ways of life, unchanged and unaffected. It seems we have become almost entirely immune to any form of meaningful human development. Unfortunately, we have yet to learn this crucial lesson, even from our enemies.

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