You cannot build influence without a strategy. Israel’s core problem is not a lack of better messaging or more sophisticated influence tools. It is that the country increasingly operates without a coherent long-term vision or strategy, while pursuing policies that put it at odds with much of the international community.

No Unit 9200, or any other influence operation, can solve that problem. Better technology cannot compensate for the absence of a credible policy.

It is similar to arguing that if Iranians had greater access to Starlink, the regime would somehow collapse. Technology and influence tools can create opportunities, but they cannot substitute for the political and strategic conditions required to achieve the desired outcome.

Israel keeps trying to treat the symptoms instead of confronting the underlying problem. Until it defines what it actually wants to achieve and aligns its policies accordingly, no amount of investment in strategic communications or influence operations will fundamentally change its international standing.

My podcast @TheNationalNews with @_NadaAlTaher regarding the recent escalation between Israel and #turkey
https://t.co/phWb8SpBDe

Do you really want to go down this road? Because we can easily go back and compare what each of us has been saying since the beginning of the war. For you, it would take a second. For me, it would take an entire year to go through all the mistakes you’ve made.

My friend, if we actually read through your assessments from the start of this conflict, I’m afraid the record looks far closer to political cheerleading than serious analysis.

As I’ve told you before, unlike you - I don’t evaluate developments through the lens of someone whose professional future depends on defending conclusions that were decided in advance. I look at what is actually happening on the ground and adjust my assessment accordingly.

And no — the President saying that the Strait is open does not make it open. Moving tankers through at night, with their transponders switched off and under U.S. military protection, is not the same thing as controlling the Strait or restoring the prewar status quo.

But there is probably little point in continuing this argument. I try to analyze Iran as it is, not as I would like it to be. Your understanding of Iran, judging by what you have written throughout this war, is about as deep as my understanding of ballet.

What I find truly remarkable is that people still invite you on air to offer your analysis after you’ve been wrong about virtually every major assessment since the beginning of this war. It really is astonishing.

But as I said, there is no point comparing our assessments. We are not playing in the same league. You’re an amateur whose understanding of Iran is so limited that I’m not entirely sure you could find it on a map. I’ve spent my professional career studying Iran and the region.

So continuing this debate is pointless. Frankly, I’d rather debate my sixth-grade son. I suspect he understands more about Iran and the Middle East than you do.

My suggestion is that you spend a little less time appearing on television networks that apparently haven’t figured out they’re interviewing an amateur, and a little more time actually learning something about Iran and the Middle East. It certainly wouldn’t hurt.

Stay safe.

Stay safe