Israeli officials noticed. “For the first time since the withdrawal from Afghanistan—even the first time since 2003—the U.S. is advancing large military assets into a war zone—and engaging,” Michael Oren, the former Israeli ambassador to the US, told me. And that message, Oren said, was being heard far beyond the Middle East. “Iran, Russia, China—they all drew conclusions about America’s unwillingness to project power. Even in Ukraine, Biden wasn’t willing to lose a single US soldier. That suddenly has changed.” To Oren’s point, the US assets weren’t silent. US warplanes struck Iran-backed
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