The threat facing Israel and the West is no longer merely geopolitical but ideological and religious, speakers argued during a fast-paced panel discussion, “The New Middle East: Terror, Influence and the War for the West,” at the 2026 Jerusalem Post New York Conference. Moderated by Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA) president Dan Diker, the panel featured former Mossad Counterterrorism Center director Oded Eilam and JCFA Diplomacy Fellow Rawan Osman.
“We are moving from defense to offense, from explaining to exposing, and from defending to attacking,” said Diker in his opening statement. “Explaining is no longer relevant, we’re moving to strategic influence.” Addressing the roots of regional instability, Eilam rejected the notion that the conflict is primarily political. “We are talking about a religious conflict between the axis led by the Shi’ites and the rest of the world.”
Eilam described the 1979 Iranian Revolution as “the most successful startup of the Shia,” noting that although Shi’ites comprise only a small minority of the Muslim world, Tehran has succeeded in establishing itself as a regional power. “Their aim is not just to reach any sort of agreement, but to spread the Islamic Revolution all around the world.”
Osman, who was born to a Syrian Sunni father and a Lebanese Shi’ite mother and grew up in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, offered a personal perspective. “I was one of Hezbollah’s biggest fans,” she recalled. “We underestimated jihad. We underestimated that those people are so devoted, they have long-term plans, and when they say Israel will be removed, they mean it.” She argued that social media has become a critical battlefield in shaping perceptions of Israel throughout the Arab world. “We can influence political opinion by telling those stories, by raising awareness, especially among Arabs who have no idea what Israel is like,” Osman said, calling for greater efforts to tell Israeli stories in Arabic.
“There are thousands of stories in Israel that the Arab world doesn’t know about,” she said. “We need them to speak, to claim their voice back.” Eilam emphasized that Israel’s immediate focus should remain on Lebanon and Hezbollah. “If we stop our campaign in Lebanon, that means we are not able to support the Lebanese government in the future of dismantling Hezbollah,” he warned. “Only the effect of Israel diminishing the power of Hezbollah will eventually bring the Lebanese to take their fate into their own hands.”
This article was written in collaboration with Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA)