Through its proxies, Iran is behind the recent attacks on the Middle East sea trade routes, as well as thousands of missile attacks on Israel. Iran’s actions cost billions of dollars for many nations, especially Israel; have an adverse impact on energy markets; increase oil prices; raise shipping costs; and disrupt supply chains. Malign activities by Iranians and their proxies have not only cost the U.S. billions, but our businesses that ship all over the world, including through the Middle East, have been put at risk, and American military lives have been threatened or lost.

Today, two carrier battle groups are in the Middle East, and they have been under constant attack since they arrived. The Navy has reportedly fired more missiles in the past 15 months than in the last 30 years. Stocks are depleted, and we have expended billions of dollars’ worth of precious missile assets. It will take years to replace these depleted stocks. This puts us at risk regarding other hot spots around the world.

Since Iran is deeply anti-Israel, it is knee-deep in the anti-Israel movement in the U.S. and elsewhere. Agents of Iran are fomenting hatred toward Israel and support for the Palestinian cause all through America, especially on college campuses. While not directly orchestrating these efforts, using media and media manipulation, they are trying to control the narrative in ways that hurt Israel and benefit Hamas, the Palestinian terror group. Our intelligence agencies have confirmed Iranian bot networks and troll farms actively fomenting activity that is anti-Israel and anti-American. Iran is known to have connections to and provide support for radical groups that foment hate toward Israel.

The threat from Iran is immediate and urgent, and it’s not going to go away by itself. Iran is an existential threat to Israel, one of our closest allies and an oasis of freedom in a troubled Middle East. It would be a tragedy on the scale of the Nazi Holocaust of WWII if the U.S. and the West stood by and allowed Israel to be attacked and brought down by Iran and its proxies.

Current trends worldwide show that Israel is losing the battle of public opinion due to anti-Semitic propaganda and the rise of Iran’s influence and its malign machinations to gain power and influence. Lest we forget, the creation of Israel was one of the greatest accomplishments to come out of WWII. After decades of rising anti-Semitism in Europe and the extermination of six million Jews in the Holocaust, the UN boldly led in the creation of a plan for a home for the Jews in their original lands. Thus, Israel came to be in 1948 and has been a free country defending itself ever since.

The U.S. has been a key supporter of Israel from its founding, and that should never change. We must defend Israel against Iran and its proxies. We must defend the sea lanes of commerce from Iran’s attempt to close them. We must prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons by any means possible. Israel’s life depends on it. If Iran gets the bomb, Israel will be attacked and destroyed by Iran, and millions will die. The U.S. will also likely be attacked. Iranian spies and influence groups are active in our country now. If Israel is attacked with nuclear weapons, we will then be forced into war with Iran. But the cost of this horrible future will be millions upon millions of dead in Iran and throughout the Middle East. We must prevent that from happening. We must do anything and everything we can now to protect Israel and prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons. Americans must be informed and our leaders urged to protect Israel at all costs.