Former Israeli Amb Michael Oren: 'In the Middle East, if you want peace – you got to give war a chance'

One of the most dangerous and consequential weeks since the outset of the Oct. 7 war has put the relationship between the United States and Israel to the test. From the assassination of Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah to the IDF's ground incursion into Lebanon to Iran launching a massive missile attack on Israel – the bond between Washington and Jerusalem may determine what comes next.

Or as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu phrased it in his UN speech: Will the Middle East witness a blessing or a curse? 

“That is the choice we face today: the curse of Iran’s unremitting aggression or the blessing of a historic reconciliation between Arab and Jew,” he said.

While both Democrats and Republicans wish to see the blessing of peace in the Middle East, each party’s presidential candidate has a different vision of what’s the best – and maybe only – way to get there.

Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., Michael Oren, spoke to ALL ISRAEL NEWS Editor-in-Chief Joel Rosenberg about the gaps between the two approaches in an interview for THE ROSENBERG REPORT, which airs on TBN.

“You have this rather anomalous situation where you have two candidates, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, who both called for the end of the war, they call for the end of the war in different ways,” Oren said. “Kamala Harris, through negotiations, hostage release, ceasefire, and Donald Trump by letting Israel continue the war and letting it defeat its enemies.”

He continued, “I think most Israelis would have preferred the first option. If it was truly option optional. The second option, obviously, would be the one we choose because we have no choice. This is a war for our survival. And the degree to which the United States would be behind us, and we agree with the United States would project its power, that would be very, very helpful. Certainly, it's an inflection point.”

Michael Oren is also a historian, New York Times bestselling author, former Knesset member, and former senior advisor to Netanyahu. Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, he has frequently appeared in international media to defend Israel's position in the war and has led delegations of Israeli war victims to Washington. He has also escorted American officials on tours of southern Israel to witness firsthand the destruction caused by the attacks.

“We used to always be very proud that support for the State of Israel was the only truly bipartisan issue in Washington. It's far less so now,” Oren admitted. “We don't like it, but that is the reality. We have to deal with it. And we do expect the United States, under this administration to stand foursquare beside us and let the Iranians and our enemies – our common enemies – know that the United States, not just Israel, is willing to extract a prohibitive price for them should they attack the state of Israel.”

However, the Biden administration didn’t always stand foursquare beside Israel throughout the war. Rosenberg noted that, despite calls from the U.S. president, his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and other allies in favor of negotiating a ceasefire in Lebanon – Netanyahu “went for the jugular with Hezbollah.”  

“They insisted that Israeli forces don't enter Rafah in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. We had to go into Rafah. They insisted that Israel basically accept to sit under Hezbollah fire every day in the north and till we run out of interceptors and die,” Michael Oren agreed.

“This is not a new game. And so, in this, of course, this entire war, we've had to say to our American allies and to our European allies as well, sorry, we refuse to die. And sorry the Jewish people are no longer in the situation where people are going to let people kill us with impunity and we're going to strike back,” he stressed further. “And we're sorry if you're an election year, really, we can commiserate, but we just cannot hold our fire in a 21-day ceasefire with Hezbollah serves only one party, and that's Hezbollah.”

The former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. is convinced that if Israel ended up dealing a serious blow that cripples Iran’s axis of evil, then the blessings of peace in the region will soon follow.

“When I first heard about the operation against Hassan Nasrallah, I turned to the person next to me and I said, 'Well, we just got peace with Saudi Arabia,'” he recounted.

“It was clear to me since October 7th, that if we prevailed in this war, we would get peace. It's just the opposite of what other people think, that by waging war, somehow, we're going to jeopardize the peace. Now, by waging war it successfully – to the end – we'll actually be able to broaden and strengthen those Abraham Accords to include Saudi Arabia and other countries as well,” Oren explained.  

“You know, John Lennon somewhere is going to hate me saying this, but here – if you want peace, you got to give war a chance.”

Watch Rosenberg's full interview with former Israeli ambassador Michael Oren on the TBN website.

THE ROSENBERG REPORT airs Thursday nights at 9 p.m. EST and Saturday nights at 9:30 p.m. EST – on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the most-watched Christian television network in the United States.