Take a bow, Lockheed Martin. The company’s F-35 was just on death row, and the aerospace giant’s order books must fill as quickly as the United States grants export licenses.

Israel’s F-35 fleet flew in and out of the Islamic Republic of Iran, picked up and dropped off the mullahs’ strategic air defenses – Russian-supplied S-300 missile systems, as well as next-generation missile batteries developed by Iran. Iran is now essentially empty and fearful if Israel is provoked.

Proof of concept for Israel’s most advanced stealth fighter? There could be no greater testament to the F-35’s name than the damage it did in Iran and the lengths it went with refueling along the way.

IRAN PLANS RESPONSE TO ISRAEL ATTACK WITH ‘ALL AVAILABLE TOOLS’

Iran had two changes in Israel now, two massive missile barrages on the jewish state and two huge misses. Some Israelis were injured, including a young Bedouin woman, and some minor damage was done here and there. But Iran was embarrassed by two failed attempts to retaliate for Israeli actions and then humiliated by Israel’s highly accurate and unstoppable air force.

Israeli Air Force jets departing for strikes in Iran on October 26. (IDF Spokesperson Unit)

If Iran tries a third strike upon the Jewish state, Israel will surely call in the mullahs with a devastating response targeting Iran’s developing nuclear program and Iran’s oil production and transportation facilities. Whatever the United States has done to impose restrictions on Israel would likely be removed if former President Donald Trump becomes the next President Trump.

Indeed, even if Vice President Kamala Harris somehow wins — and that’s still very possible — her pleas will fall on deaf ears. Israel’s existence is on the line now that Iran has dared to act directly against the Jewish state. Neither Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu nor any successor can sit back and absorb such attacks without a backlash. Iran knows this now.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

The F-35 has inspired many critical stories about its cost, with a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report estimating that the program will cost the US more than $2 trillion over its lifetime. This is a significant increase from the 2018 estimate of $1.7 trillion. That’s a lot of money.

But no Israeli pilot has been lost to a sophisticated defense system (although it is not the most advanced in the world – the S-400 was an upgrade and Russia is working on the S-500.) America’s Patriot missile system is considered by some to be inferior to the S-400, but in the confrontation between Israel and Iran, Israel has now demonstrated “escalation dominance” in a way that no one in the region has missed.

The old “strong horse” versus “weak horse” is back in vogue in the Middle East, and Israel has emerged as a very strong horse indeed. While Israel was stunned a year ago by the massacre of 1,200 of its own citizens and the abduction of another 250, and while its losses on October 7 were heavy, with nearly 400 IDF soldiers killed in theaters in Gaza and Lebanon of what should be considered. The first Israel-Iran war, Netanyahu and his government showed the world that if provoked by Iran, it will no longer accept silent urgent appeals from peacemakers around the globe, including those from the United States. The IDF can strike anywhere in Iran and with precision.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Israel also demolished a vast Hezbollah base that was entirely underground and did so with enough explosives to set off earthquake alarms in Israel.

The first year of Israel’s war of survival was brutal, but the IDF demonstrated extraordinary resilience and adaptability. The attack on Iran is just the latest demonstration of Israel’s war-fighting capability. Ayatollah Khamenei wants to do another round with Israel? He is a fanatical theocrat, and ordinary logic does not apply. But Israel has restored deterrence in recent weeks and especially over the weekend. The whole world should thank him.

Hugh Hewitt is the host of “The Hugh Hewitt Show,” heard weekday mornings from 6:00 AM to 9:00 AM ET on the Salem Radio Network and simulcast on the Salem News Channel. Hugh Awakens America on over 400 affiliates nationwide and on all streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on Fox News Channel’s News Roundtable hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6:00 PM ET. A native of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a professor of law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996, where he teaches constitutional law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show in Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt has appeared frequently on all major national television news networks, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American newspaper, written a dozen of books and moderated dozens of Republican articles. candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami, and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump over his 40 years on the air, and this column previews the main story that will lead his show of radio/TV today.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM HUGH HEWITT