With Military Dominance, U.S. Backing, and Arab Partners, Israel Is Redrawing the Middle East’s Security Architecture.
In under two years, Israel has shifted from a defensive posture to one of strategic dominance in the Mideast — a transformation forged in crisis after the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of Israelis and others in southern Israel.
Israel’s response was swift and sweeping.
Despite Israeli hostages and Biden administration restraints, the IDF crushed Hamas, now reduced to a small, ragtag guerrilla force staging ambushes and hit-and-run attacks.
Hezbollah’s command structure in Lebanon was dismantled and, as a result, the murderous Assad regime in Syria collapsed.
The once-feared Iranian "ring of fire" encircling Israel unraveled with Iranian operatives fleeing Lebanon and Syria.
Tehran, too, has been defanged.
In an audacious 12-day campaign inside Iran, Israeli forces eliminated key nuclear and military assets, top scientists, and military and intelligence figures.
A strategic catastrophe was turned into a regional triumph, fundamentally altering the Mideast balance of power.
Ron Dermer, Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs and Netanyahu’s alter-ego, captured the moment on Dan Senor’s July 14 "Call Me Back" podcast, "Right now, Israel is stronger than it’s ever been."
Before Oct. 7, 2023, Israel relied on a containment strategy — absorbing the first blow, mounting limited reprisals, controlling escalation, managing the conflict, rather than resolving it.
That strategy — rooted in Western-style thinking — collapsed when Hamas crossed the border to slaughter and kidnap civilians.
The old assumption that stability could be preserved with border fences, missile shields, and economic incentives was shattered.
What’s emerged is a new Israeli doctrine: Strategic confidence. Israel now seizes opportunities to shape regional outcomes and establish deterrence beyond its borders.
It established buffer zones in southern Lebanon and Syria, keeping hostile forces away from its civilian population.
It intervened militarily to protect Syrian Druze, tied to Israel’s own Druze citizens — and destroyed advanced weapons abandoned by the Assad regime before jihadists could seize them.
Dermer told Senor that not a single rocket was fired by Hezbollah during Israel’s 12-day Iran strike — a sign of how deeply Israel’s new deterrence has taken root.
That campaign displayed unmatched technological, military, operational and intelligence dominance — stunning the region and globally.
Even earlier, during Iran’s April 2024 missile barrage against Israel, quiet coordination emerged with Arab neighbors.
The Wall Street Journal reported the UAE and Saudi Arabia shared intelligence about Iran’s attack plans, while Jordan opened its airspace and intercepted Iranian missiles and drones.
This behind-the-scenes teamwork marked a watershed moment of cooperation.
Helping this evolution is the Abraham Accords.
What began as diplomatic normalization is maturing into robust economic, diplomatic and security partnerships.
Israeli desalination techniques are operational in Gulf cities.
Israeli cybersecurity protects Saudi infrastructure. Gulf-Israeli investment funds move billions across the region.
Israel is a technological and military powerhouse — and Arab neighbors are eager to benefit.
Talk of a Middle East NATO-style alliance is no longer abstract.
Proposals like the Middle East Air Defense (MEAD) system — integrating Gulf and Israeli defenses — are gaining traction.
A regional coalition with Israel as the cornerstone could contain Iran, safeguard trade, and give the U.S. a reliable partner — without deploying American troops.
Dermer believes that once Gaza stabilizes and "intense fighting stops," which he expects will happen before long, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — seeing his "strategic interests long term aligned with Israel" — will formally join the Accords.
On June 21, 2025, when President Trump announced Operation Midnight Hammer, he praised Israel’s military and emphasized their bilateral partnership, "We worked as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before."
For Washington, Israel’s rise is a strategic asset.
Dermer describes Israel as a U.S. "force multiplier" — empowering America to pivot away from the region without creating a vacuum. Israel and its partners would fill that gap.
This fits Trump’s preference for burden-sharing and limited American military entanglements.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sees both opportunity and obligation, "We now have a chance to bring a great future to the state of Israel and the entire Middle East."
Israel today is economically vibrant, technologically unrivaled, and militarily dominant.
Its enemies are reeling. Its alliances are deepening.
Some hesitate to call Israel a "regional superpower." But the facts support the claim. That doesn’t mean its dominance is unchallenged. Iran still retains proxies and influence, but Israel’s power projection now eclipses Tehran’s fraying network.
Meanwhile, Hamas and its mainstream media allies continue promoting false claims of famine and genocide in Gaza.
The Trump administration says Hamas, not Israel, is causing the suffering and is using this disinformation campaign as a desperate act to delegitimize Israel and retain control in Gaza.
However, this strategy has only strengthened Trump’s support for Israel.
He’s dismissed Western threats to recognize Palestinian statehood as meaningless, rejected limited ceasefires, and backs a new, as-yet-undefined U.S.-Israeli strategy to free hostages and eliminate Hamas rule.
Looking ahead, Ron Dermer envisions Gaza’s reconstruction and demilitarization tied to deradicalization, "If that happens, over time, we're going to move closer and closer . . . to peace."
This is a historically pivotal moment.
The long-term implications of Israel’s rise as a regional power are still unfolding.
Peace is not guaranteed. Many challenges remain. The future is hard to predict.
After all, this is the Mideast.
Ziva Dahl is a senior fellow with the news and public policy group Haym Salomon Center. Ziva writes and lectures about U.S.-Israel relations, U.S. foreign policy, Israel, Zionism, Antisemitism and BDS on college campuses. Her articles have appeared in such publications as The Hill, New York Daily News, New York Observer, The Washington Times, American Spectator, American Thinker and Jerusalem Post. Read Ziva Dahl's Reports — More Here.
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