Is Iran’s attack strategy backfiring on the regime?

​Israel and the Jewish people are on track to dismantle Iran’s ability to wreak havoc across the region and could ultimately prevail in bringing about regime change and a new future for the Middle East, according to Sylvan Adams, president of the World Jewish Congress Israel Region.

​In an interview with ALL ISRAEL NEWS, Adams said Israel’s current military campaign is not meant to topple the Iranian regime directly, but rather to create the conditions that could allow the Iranian people to do so themselves.

​“We will never defeat them by bombing them. They will just rebuild,” Adams said. “The real endgame for us has to be regime change. And I think we're doing so well.” 

He added that the people are “waiting for us to clear the path and give them the signal as to when it will be time for the Iranian people to rise up and remove this cancerous regime.”

Adams, a major philanthropist, spoke to ALL ISRAEL NEWS on a Saturday morning via Zoom, shortly after Hezbollah rockets targeted towns in northern Israel for the 12th consecutive day and after two weeks of missile fire from Iran toward central Israel and Jerusalem. He said the Diaspora Jewish community often does not fully understand the asymmetry of the war because of the way it is portrayed in Western media.

​“We have been bombing military targets, the people and the infrastructure that have made war and can make war on us,” Adams explained. “We have avoided, to the greatest extent possible, having any civilian casualties on their side. In contrast, Iran is literally lobbing ballistic missiles at Israel.”

​The warhead on a ballistic missile is the size of a double-decker bus, Adams said, noting that they have been launched toward civilian areas, which he said clearly constitutes a war crime.

​In addition, Iran has asked Hezbollah, a terrorist organization headquartered in Lebanon, to fight on its behalf. The group has fired hundreds of rockets and drones into Israel. More recently, Adams said Iran has also been using cluster bombs, which can have a radius of up to five miles for explosive bomblets. He argued that these tactics are being used because they are unable to strike Israel’s military infrastructure.

​“This is an asymmetric war that we are facing,” Adams said. “Our best answer, while we defeat them on the battlefield, morally, and psychologically, is to build back and to build back better and stronger, bigger and more powerful, and for them to realize they're never going to defeat us.”

​But Adams believes the war could also usher in a new era for the region.

​“Wouldn't it be amazing if Iran's malevolent activities actually brought all of the countries closer to Israel?” Adams asked. “I can tell you that the Emiratis are finally seeing the dividend of the Abraham Accords, because they were concerned that they were not reaping the benefits of having rejected the Muslim Brotherhood and (of) joining the accords to be in solidarity with Israel. But during this period where they've been attacked, Israel has been solidly supporting the Emiratis, and the appreciation is enormous.”

​Adams said that other regional players, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman, are watching the situation closely. While it may seem counterintuitive that Iran’s strategy could push Israel’s adversaries closer to Israel, Adams said it is still too early to know how events will unfold.

​Still, he posed the question: “Wouldn't it be amazing if the Qataris finally woke up and realized that the problem is not Israel, the problem has always been Iran and that it somehow would bring them closer to us?”

​The Abraham Accords were signed in 2020 between the United States, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Morocco joined shortly afterward. Saudi Arabia had reportedly been planning to normalize relations with Israel in September 2023, shortly before the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack. That attack derailed those plans, though many analysts say success in the current war could reopen that opportunity.

​Beyond the possibility of regional peace, Adams said he hopes the moment will strengthen unity and pride among Jews worldwide and among their Christian allies.

​“Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people, and it belongs to all Jews. So it belongs to Jews born in Israel. It belongs to immigrants such as my wife and myself who made Aliyah, and it belongs to Diaspora Jews,” Adams said. “Israel is the Jewish homeland, and it's a very special place… Despite the onslaught of these missiles, we have managed to live through this and function in our daily lives, and the economy is booming.”

​Adams also shared a vision of bringing one million new Jewish immigrants to Israel over the next decade. He said he believes this could happen because of both push and pull factors.

​“The pull factor encompasses making Israel so attractive to Jews that they would consider Aliyah, which includes having the ability to make a living here, to earn a good wage … affordable housing,” Adams said.

​The push factor, he added, is what is often referred to as the “eighth front”: rising antisemitism around the world that makes living a Jewish life challenging in some places and dangerous in others.

​He said America, which was founded on Judaic values, and Israel are inextricably tied together in the battle against Iran, and that both Jews and Christians who hold those values should have pride and appreciation in the success of war.

​“Jews need to be prideful, not defensive,” Adams said. “We need to be proud in terms of our contributions, and we need to stand up for ourselves. We should never cower. We should stand up to hostility and anti-semitism. I'm incredibly proud of our partnership with the United States, which is exemplified by what we are doing together in an unprecedented manner in Iran. This is a moment of great pride.”

​And Christians? Adams said Evangelicals have a particularly strong understanding, where perhaps less religious communities miss the point when it comes to Israel's contributions and importance in the world.

​“You just go to the United States Capitol, and you read the inscriptions, and they're all from the Old Testament,” Adams said. “So America was founded on the Old Testament and on Jewish values. Evangelicals understand this better, and we have really no better friends in the world.”

​If Adams is right, Iran’s campaign to destabilize the region may end up doing the opposite, strengthening Israel, emboldening the Iranian people and becoming a moment of pride for Jews and Christians alike.