WhatsappThere is no question that the IDF had one of its most challenging years since its inception during the year 2025. The hostages returned home due to incessant IDF pressure coupled with effective diplomatic pressure. The IDF pressure was the deciding factor. The day-in and day out grinding of the ground forces made its mark. Hamas felt the IDF closing in and buckled.
But Hamas is not finished yet. It is severely weakened and may never truly recover. Hundreds of thousands of Israeli soldiers left their families and defended the country for months over the year 2025 in order to finish the job and bring security to the State of Israel. Hamas still exists, but all of the live hostages have been returned, and Hamas is no longer the fighting force it once was.
The IDF and the entire State of Israel took a terrible beating on October 7th. The fallout from the debacle will unquestionably affect the elections in 2026 and the future decisions of the IDF in the coming years. Every military decision will center on making sure that no Arab terrorists attack of this sort will ever succeed again.
Part of the amazing accomplishments over the last year are the new geopolitical realities. With the Hezbollah becoming a mere shell of itself in Lebanon and the IDF continuing to pummel the Hezbollah in order to keep it from regrouping, the threat from Israel’s northern border has largely been downgraded.
But without question, the other big story of 2025 was the successful attack on Iran. With Israel’s successful takedown of Iran’s ballistic missile program followed by the US attack on Fordow the Iranian threat has been setback a few years. However, today it seems clear that the Iranian threat is far from over in the short term.
The most fascinating aspect of the attack on the Iranian nuclear missile and ballistic missile program is the economic fallout which is leading to mass demonstrations against the regime. If the Iranian government begins to teeter and actually falls, the entire Middle East will have been transformed.
All of the diplomatic progress that has been made with the United States and moderate Arab countries has been based on the bravery of the young IDF soldiers who have been willing to literally give up their lives in order to defend the Jewish people. It was a costly year, but a very productive year for the IDF.
