Israel unleashed its promised retaliation against Iran’s October 1 missile barrage. On October 25, the Israel Defense Forces (idf) attacked several key Iranian military sites. Dozens of planes, including F-35s, F-16s and F-15s, targeted sites from Tehran to the Persian Gulf coast.

Israel hit four Russia-designed S-300 systems. According to anonymous Israeli security sources cited by the Institute for the Study of War think tank, the idf claimed that “Israel’s attack destroyed all of Iran’s long-range surface-to-air missile batteries and long-range detection radars, leaving Iran with only domestically produced short-range defense batteries.”

Israeli media citing Iranian sources claimed the idf also hijacked and froze Iran’s radar systems. The same sources also claimed Israel struck an Iranian radar target in Syria.

The strikes demonstrated Israel’s capability to attack Tehran directly. Israel struck at least five targets in the vicinity of Iran’s capital. This included Tehran’s international airport, the location of one of the S-300 systems.

Sources speaking with Axios claimed Israel hit 12 “planetary mixers,” machines used to make ballistic missile fuel. Iran imported this specialized equipment from China. Axios’s sources claim “remanufacturing the mixers could take at least a year,” with one saying that “the strike cripples Iran’s missile production capability.”

Perhaps most significantly, Israel struck the Parchin Military Complex. Parchin is one of Iran’s centers for production of ballistic missiles like those used on October 1. Satellite imagery analyzed by Planet Labs suggests four buildings sustained significant damage.

Iran claims Parchin is a conventional military facility, but it has previously used Parchin for nuclear tests. Evidence suggests Iran was still using Parchin for nuclear research. Parchin’s activities are so secretive that Iran forbade access to United Nations inspectors. It seems the activities there were more sensitive than in Iran’s declared sites, like Fordow and Natanz.

Israel’s attack may have bumped Iran’s nuclear progress down a notch.

In general, this looks to be a strategic victory for Israel. The strike was limited and “proportional” to Iran’s earlier attack. Because of this, the international community’s outcry was muted. The destruction of Iran’s missile production capability helps Israel’s security in the short term. And the strikes may have set back Iran’s nuclear program. And hitting sites near Tehran with apparent impunity makes Iran look weak.

But the circumstances surrounding Israel’s retaliation also show that Israel faces another powerful enemy: the United States.

America the Enemy?

Israel’s Achilles’ heel is that it doesn’t have a large manufacturing capacity. It is dependent on foreign powers to keep its military state-of-the-art. The U.S. has been Israel’s natural partner for decades. It is a relatively friendly government with a massive economy and a large pro-Israel population. But the U.S. often attaches strings to its support.

Squabbling over how weapons can be used is nothing new. But in this case, the U.S. government went out of its way to marginalize Israel.

The Joe Biden administration publicly stated Israel could not harm either nuclear or economic sites. The government has a history of surreptitious dealings with Iran and pressuring Israel to leave Iran alone. But public red lines overtly protecting Iran’s nuclear program are unusual. (Israel got away with targeting Parchin because the U.S.’s official position is that Parchin is a military site. It can’t scold Israel about Parchin without admitting it has gone along with Iran’s fiction.)

That Israel took so long to respond and did so within America’s parameters suggests Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is taking Joe Biden’s red lines seriously. Attacking Iran’s nuclear program would be a cheap investment from Israel that the Western world should be on board with. The U.S. has no reason to draw the line at the nuclear program unless the U.S. wants to protect it.

There are more serious allegations against the U.S., however. U.S. intelligence documents about Israel’s retaliation surfaced on October 18 on a Telegram account linked to Iran. The documents’ authenticity has not yet been confirmed by media, but they contained geographic data as well as details of the Israeli Air Force’s training.

“The report, if accurate, would suggest very close and detailed surveillance by U.S. intelligence of Israel’s preparations for an attack on Iran,” Axios wrote, “including the use of satellites to spy on operations carried out at Israeli Air Force bases.”

Details are murky, but the U.S. intelligence community has a deep history of surreptitious dealings with Iran. (Watch our video on the subject for more information.) That such information would find its way to Iran suggests the U.S. is actively helping Iran against Israel.

Netanyahu’s strike was a victory. But it could have been an even bigger victory. Iran and its proxies are the main instigators of Israel’s terror war. If Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah backed off on their attacks, the war could be over tomorrow.

The Biden administration cannot hurt Israel too much without a negative public reaction. The upcoming presidential elections add to the pressure and the public spotlight. But America can still force Israel to fight handcuffed. As long as the U.S. continues to hold Israel back, Iran has a chance of coming out of the conflict still standing.

Why?

Why the U.S. would undermine Israel at the expense of Islamists cannot be explained rationally. But a biblical prophecy in 2 Kings 14:26-27 puts America’s actions into perspective: “For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel. And the Lord said not that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.”

“The Bible shows that anciently, God raised up the kingdom of Israel to represent Him,” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry writes in The King of the South. “Satan attacked that nation in every way he could. History shows that at one point, an enemy almost completely destroyed it—but God raised up a flawed human king to temporarily save the nation.”

The name Israel refers to more countries than just the nation in the Middle East. (Request a free copy of The United States and Britain in Prophecy, by Herbert W. Armstrong, to learn more.) But the state with the official name of Israel in the Holy Land symbolizes the “name of Israel” perhaps better than any other nation.

“The book of Kings is part of the former prophets,” Mr. Flurry writes. “It is a book of prophecy for this end time especially. … History is repeating itself today.”

This attack on Israel concerns more than the Middle East. There are deeper spiritual reasons that affect every person on Earth. To learn what those are, request a free copy of The King of the South.