FIDF Live Briefing: Jonathan Schanzer, Executive Director at Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) - June 15, 2025

FIDF Chief Executive Officer Steve Weil welcomes back Jonathan Schanzer, Senior Vice President of Research for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), to discuss Israel’s air strike against Iran on June 13th, and the ensuing war. Jonathan breaks down the Israeli Air Force’s onslaught, or as Jonathan described it, a blitzkrieg-like attack, heavily crippling Iran’s nuclear facilities and defense capabilities, eliminating Iran’s top military personal and eliminating Iran’s top nuclear program personnel. Jonathan believes that, contrary to President Trump’s statements, the United States has supported this attack and was involved to some degree with the planning of this attack. Jonathan explains that there is debate in the Trump administration whether to finish the job or not. The IAF has done a great job of taking out many of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers, however, it’s unclear how many launchers there are and if Israel can take them all out, and there is the concern that Iran’s aim with these missiles is improving, thus posing a dangerous threat to the safety of Israeli citizens and Israeli military strongholds. Another concern is Israel’s capacity to take out Fordo, Iran’s most important nuclear facility. It is buried deep underground and the IAF may not have the capability to destroy it, so the question is, will the US deploy B-2 bombers that have the capability to potentially destroy Fordo? Further, while the IAF, IDF and Mossad have done a stellar job in this attack, the ballistic missile fire and the damage being caused both to Israel’s infrastructure and the civilian psyche is great, and how much more that Israel can take is yet to be seen. All in all, the goal should be to finish the job swiftly and decisively, and US support may be required to do so. Donate NOW at FIDF.org for the fastest and most direct way to give IDF Soldiers what they need most. 100% of your contribution will go to meet their emergency humanitarian needs.