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Israel Is America's Forward Defense Partner
(Los Angeles Jewish Journal) Lt.-Col. (res.) Or Horvitz - On Nov. 23, 2025, Israel eliminated Hizbullah's chief of staff, Haytham Ali Tabataba'i. The U.S. State Department had offered a $5 million reward for information leading to Tabataba'i, citing his responsibility for operations that killed Americans. For years, Israel has directly advanced American interests and helped protect the U.S., Israel and the Free World from some of the most dangerous terrorist organizations on earth that were responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans. The U.S. benefits from an ally that actively removes direct threats to American interests - often without requiring American forces to fight. Many countries shared the assessment that Iran posed a grave strategic threat. But only one country had both the capabilities and the willingness to act shoulder to shoulder with the U.S. in carrying out the campaign, while assuming significant risk. The military and intelligence cooperation with Israel enabled exceptional operational results that could not have been achieved in the same way without it. Israel's unique and diverse intelligence capabilities have served American security in countless ways. Israeli intelligence has helped thwart terrorist activity on U.S. soil, systematically weakened terrorist organizations, and protected Americans in the Middle East. Cooperation between two of the world's leading intelligence communities creates a whole greater than the sum of its parts - making both nations safer. Israel is also one of the most effective real-world testing grounds for American military systems. Israel's extensive use of U.S.-made weapons creates an unparalleled learning laboratory in which American systems are tested in combat against Soviet, Russian and Iranian-made weapons. When Israeli F-35s successfully operate against Russian or Iranian air defense systems, the U.S. gains critical lessons, and the world sees the superiority of American military technology over its competitors. Israel's startup culture, when integrated with the scale and depth of the American defense ecosystem, has helped produce some of the world's most advanced missile defense layers. American access to Israeli defense innovation directly serves the U.S. effort to preserve its military and technological edge over its rivals. My American colleagues understood well that the U.S. has few partners as effective, useful and proactive as Israel. Israel's willingness to defend itself by itself makes it one of the highest-return security investments the U.S. can make. The writer served as Head of the Hizbullah and Lebanon Branch of Israeli Defense Intelligence (2022-24).