Military defeats matter. Israel’s inexcusable complacency on October 7, 2023, allowed Hamas, a terrorist force with a small fraction of the military strength of the Israel Defence Forces, to kill more Israeli civilians than the vast armies of Egypt and Syria and their allies did at the height of the Arab-Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973.

But as demonstrated by Israel’s stunning airstrike on Hezbollah’s underground headquarters near Beirut, which killed the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, the fortunes of war have shifted against Israel’s enemies since October 7. Hamas is losing. Hezbollah is losing. And most important: By extension, Iran is losing. If those losses continue, Iran will exit this conflict as a diminished force, less capable of harming Israel and weaker in the eyes of its other regional foes.