Top Biden aide: Israel’s strategic position stronger since Oct. 7, but at major humanitarian cost

While it came at a significant humanitarian cost, Israel is now in a stronger strategic position against its adversaries more than a year after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, US Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer says.

In a virtual interview hosted by Chatham House, Finer notes predictions made in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attack that the US, Israel and their adversaries were more vulnerable have not panned out.

“In reality, strategically, our adversaries, Israel’s adversaries, our Gulf partners’ adversaries, are actually the ones who are now on the back foot,” Finer says.

He points to Iran, which carried out two missile attacks against Israel, which the US helped thwart along with its proxies that have been significantly weakened, with the possible exception of the Houthis, which Finer acknowledges have been a more difficult challenge to address.

“The strategic position of Israel almost a year and a half since October 7, is… stronger than it was,” he says.

“This has come at a significant cost — obviously, an enormous cost paid by Israel on October 7 in these unconscionable attacks — and a significant cost paid by ordinary Palestinians in Gaza and to some extent in the West Bank,” Finer says, highlighting US efforts to work and sometimes pressure Israel on this issue.