President Biden Should Embrace Israel’s Iron Resolve Doctrine
It’s a cool October evening in a northern Israeli town, but Yonatan Stein isn’t there to enjoy it. Instead, he’s sitting in a cramped apartment in Haifa, nervously watching the news, as he has for most of the past year. His home, along with thousands of others near Israel’s border with Lebanon, sits empty. Yonatan, along with 60,000 other Israelis, was forced to evacuate last November when Hezbollah launched a relentless barrage of missiles — over 9,000 in total — at towns and cities throughout the north.
“We’ve been waiting for the green light to go back,” Yonatan says, “but how can I take my family home when the rockets could start falling again any day? It’s like living in limbo.”
But there’s something different in the air this October. In September, after nearly a year of sustained attacks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took a decisive turn. In a sharp break from decades of cautious, proportional responses, Netanyahu began to implement the long-discussed “Iron Resolve Doctrine.” The goal was not merely to defend against Hezbollah’s rockets but to cripple the organization once and for all.
It started with a series of covert, sophisticated strikes. Israeli intelligence targeted Hezbollah’s missile production sites with precision. Then, the communications infrastructure that allowed the terror group to operate in secret was systematically destroyed. Over the course of several weeks, senior Hezbollah military leaders were quietly eliminated, one by one, until only a few remained. And finally, in a dramatic stroke, Israel decapitated the organization by killing its longtime leader, Hasan Nasrallah, in a meticulously planned operation.
For Yonatan and his family, these actions offer the first real hope of returning home in nearly a year. “We’re watching what’s happening now,” Yonatan says, “and it feels different this time. This isn’t like the last few operations where they hit a few targets and waited for the next attack. They’re not waiting anymore.”
The Shift from Restraint to Iron Resolve
Netanyahu’s Iron Resolve Doctrine marked a dramatic departure from the traditional Israeli approach. For decades, Israel had responded to Hezbollah’s provocations with restraint, measured airstrikes, and carefully calibrated operations designed to avoid drawing Lebanon and the wider region into war. But as Hezbollah’s arsenal grew more sophisticated and its tactics more brazen, it became clear that proportionality wasn’t working.
The events of 2024 were a turning point. For nearly a year, Hezbollah’s missile attacks displaced tens of thousands of Israelis, disrupted daily life, and severely damaged the northern economy. While international leaders, including President Biden, urged Israel to avoid escalation, Hezbollah took advantage of these pauses to regroup and rearm, continuing its assaults with impunity.
For Yonatan, and for many Israelis living in the north, this cycle of restraint and renewed aggression became unbearable. “Every time we showed restraint, they just came back stronger,” Yonatan recalls. “We were the ones paying the price, not them.”
In response, Netanyahu’s government shifted to a strategy of overwhelming force. The Iron Resolve Doctrine, once a theoretical military approach, became the guiding principle of Israeli defense. It recognized that Hezbollah was not just a military threat, but a well-organized, well-funded terrorist state within a state. Neutralizing it required not just responding to attacks but preemptively dismantling its ability to wage war.
In September, as part of Iron Resolve, Israel launched covert operations that systematically targeted Hezbollah’s infrastructure. Missile production facilities in hidden locations were destroyed by drone strikes and cyberattacks. Communications networks that allowed Hezbollah to operate under the radar were destroyed and shut down. Key figures within the organization’s military leadership were targeted and eliminated.
The culmination of this campaign came with the killing of Hasan Nasrallah, the charismatic and feared leader of Hezbollah for nearly three decades. Nasrallah had long been the face of Hezbollah’s resistance, but his death marked a decisive blow to the group’s command structure. Without its leader and with its infrastructure in ruins, Hezbollah found itself in a state of disarray, unable to coordinate significant further missile strikes.
A New Kind of Deterrence
For Yonatan and the thousands of families like his, the shift in strategy has been nothing short of transformative. “It’s the first time in years that I feel like maybe we’ll actually be able to go back,” he says. “I mean, they’ve taken out Nasrallah. That’s huge.”
The doctrine of Iron Resolve isn’t just about military tactics — it’s about changing the very calculus of deterrence. For too long, Israel’s enemies, particularly Hezbollah, had learned to game the system. They knew that Israel would respond with restraint, that international calls for ceasefires would protect them from total defeat, and that as long as they could endure a few airstrikes, they would live to fight another day.
But Netanyahu’s government has signaled that those days are over. Iron Resolve is about establishing red lines that cannot be crossed, and if they are, the response will be swift, overwhelming, and final. For Hezbollah, Nasrallah’s death has sent an unmistakable message: No one is untouchable, and no attack on Israel will go unanswered.
The Costs of Restraint
Looking back at the past year, Yonatan reflects on what restraint has cost his family. Since their evacuation, they’ve been living in temporary housing, shuttling between friends’ homes and government-provided shelters. His children haven’t been back to school, and his wife has struggled to maintain her teaching career. “We tried to make it work,” he says, “but you can’t live in a war zone, not like that.”
For Yonatan and his neighbors, the frustration with Israel’s previous strategy of restraint is palpable. “Every time we held back, it felt like we were just giving them more time to plan their next move,” he explains. “But now? Now it feels like we’re finally hitting them where it hurts.”
The Iron Resolve Doctrine has its critics, of course. Some warn that by taking such decisive action, Israel risks drawing the region into a broader conflict. There are also concerns about the humanitarian impact in Lebanon, where the destruction of Hezbollah’s infrastructure has taken a toll on civilian life. But for Yonatan, these concerns feel distant compared to the immediate reality of keeping his family safe.
“They say we should worry about what’s happening in Lebanon,” he says. “But what about what’s happening here? We’ve been living in fear for a year, and now, for the first time, it feels like we might actually have peace.”
The Moral Argument for Decisive Force
The moral calculus of Iron Resolve is not easy. Critics argue that overwhelming force could lead to more instability, not less. But for those who have lived under Hezbollah’s rockets, the argument for restraint seems hollow. The international community may advocate for proportionality, but for Israelis like Yonatan, the only path to lasting peace is one paved with decisive action.
“We’ve tried diplomacy,” Yonatan says. “We’ve tried waiting it out. But all that’s done is keep us in this cycle of fear. Now, with Iron Resolve, we’re finally doing something different.”
For Netanyahu’s government, the doctrine represents a fundamental shift in how Israel deals with its enemies. No longer content with merely defending its borders, Israel is now taking the fight to those who threaten its existence. And for the families who have lived through the uncertainty and fear of the past year, this shift is a welcome one.
“I don’t know if it’s over,” Yonatan admits. “But I know that this time, we’re not just sitting back and waiting for the next attack. We’re making sure there won’t be one.”
A Future in the Balance
As Israel moves forward with the Iron Resolve Doctrine, the question remains: Will this strategy bring lasting peace, or will it only lead to more conflict? For now, families like Yonatan’s are cautiously optimistic. With Hezbollah’s infrastructure in ruins and its leadership decimated, there is hope that the group will no longer have the capacity to launch another sustained attack.
But even as the dust settles, the cost of restraint is still fresh in Yonatan’s mind. “We waited for years, hoping that things would get better on their own,” he says. “But they never did. Now, we’re finally taking control of our own security. And for the first time in a long time, I feel like we might actually be able to go home.”
