Although it is rarely taught in political-science courses, the Hebrew Bible has had a profound impact on Western political thought, from medieval Christian Europe to the American founders and to the present. Yoram Hazony, who has written extensively on this subject, here discusses the Bible’s political doctrines, arguing that Genesis and Exodus contrast the pastoral and nomadic life of the patriarchs with the sophisticated and all-powerful governments found in the empires of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Furthermore, he finds in Judges and Samuel a doctrine of the monarchy, the social contract, and the consent of the governed utterly unlike the notion of “divine right” claimed by many premodern rulers. (Interview by Jonathan Silver. Audio, 39 minutes. Options for download and streaming are available at the link below.)

Analyzing the recent direct Iranian attack on Israel, and Israel’s security situation more generally, Michael Oren looks to the 2015 agreement to restrain Iran’s nuclear program. That, and President Biden’s efforts to resurrect the deal after Donald Trump left it, are in his view the source of the current crisis:

Of the original motivations for the deal—blocking Iran’s path to the bomb and transforming Iran into a peaceful nation—neither remained. All Biden was left with was the ability to kick the can down the road and to uphold Barack Obama’s singular foreign-policy achievement.

In order to achieve that result, the administration has repeatedly refused to punish Iran for its malign actions:

Historians will survey this inexplicable record and wonder how the United States not only allowed Iran repeatedly to assault its citizens, soldiers, and allies but consistently rewarded it for doing so. They may well conclude that in a desperate effort to avoid getting dragged into a regional Middle Eastern war, the U.S. might well have precipitated one.

While America’s friends in the Middle East, especially Israel, have every reason to feel grateful for the vital assistance they received in intercepting Iran’s missile and drone onslaught, they might also ask what the U.S. can now do differently to deter Iran from further aggression. . . . Tehran will see this weekend’s direct attack on Israel as a victory—their own—for their ability to continue threatening Israel and destabilizing the Middle East with impunity.

Israel, of course, must respond differently. Our target cannot simply be the Iranian proxies that surround our country and that have waged war on us since October 7, but, as the Saudis call it, “the head of the snake.”