Opinion: There is No Way A Ceasefire will Help to End the War with Iran

By David Silver

May 13th 2026

There is a well known joke here in Israel that when we agree to a cease-fire with our enemies that is forced upon us, generally by the various presidents of the USA, Israel always 'ceases' and the enemy continues to 'fire.' The not so funny thing about that joke is that it is usually true. Surprisingly, after the cease-fire between the US, Iran and unwillingly, Israel, Iran has not directly fired at Israel, but no doubt Iran is encouraging Hezbollah to break the cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon, which they have been doing increasingly as the days go on.

As much as nearly every Israeli wants to live in peace with our neighbors and the rest of the world, most of us who have seen many such cease-fires, do not like them. If your nation is at war with another nation, and your army gains a clear victory, the other side, when they realise they have no hope, will be looking for a cease-fire, and most normal countries will honour the terms of the agreement. For instance Germany and Japan realized they were totally defeated, and made no plans to violate the armistice. To everyone's relief the war ended, peace was restored, and everyone prospered.

However when you are at war with a regime that is under the influence of a demonic ideology, entering into a premature cease-fire before the enemy is crushed beyond any chance of rising up again, is a very foolish and dangerous thing to do, especially when your side has the upper hand in the conflict at the time.

I have to admit that every time Israel has been forced to stop fighting a war that was forced upon us by Hamas, Hezbollah or Iran, I was very angry and felt sick in my stomach. Our leaders had been promising us that the IDF and IAF (Israeli Air Force) would not stop until the enemy was destroyed and would never be able to attack us again. Even after the horrors of October 7th, which never could have happened if the USA had not stopped Israel from doing much more damage to Hamas in previous wars, Israel capitulated to the demands of President Trmp, and agreed to a cease-fire leaving Hamas in a place where they can rebuild, and that is exactly what they have been doing - refusing to disarm and increasing control over the people of Gaza. This cease-fire will ultimately fail.

Agreeing to a cease-fire in that situation usually has the following result...

• It takes the pressure off the enemy forces and gives them time to regroup and rearm.

• It often causes your own forces to lose ground that cost many of your military men's lives. Many times more were wounded, some with life-changing injuries.

• It makes the huge amount of money and energy that your country spent on getting the upper hand, an almost criminal waste, when you have people living in poverty.

• It sends the current enemy, and others who are watching, a message that your leaders are soft and do not have the fortitude to fight to the end. This further encourages them to demand ridiculous conditions for the cease-fire to become permanent.

• You can be sure such an enemy will rebuild and try to destroy your nation at sometime in the future.

  
  

In the Koran there is a word 'Hudna' which can mean truce or cease-fire, but it can also mean a pause to buy time to rearm and regroup. And that is exactly what Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah are doing with the American leaders who don't seem to understand these things.

In His word the Lord shows King Saul through the prophet Samuel how to deal with the enemy 1 Samuel 15:3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”

In 1939, as Hitler's Nazi Regime was growing in power, against the advice of Winston Churchill, PM Neville Chamberlain went to Germany to meet Hilter. He achieved his goal and returned home with a big smile on his face, waving a sheet of paper in his hand, declaring "peace in our time." The paper was a promise by Hitler to use diplomacy rather than war to settle future disputes, which he soon violated and WW2 broke out. At the end of the war, 6 years later, more than 80 million military people and civilians were dead.

When I hear President Trump pushing for a cease-fire with Iran, and forcing Israel to be a part of it I shudder in despair. When he says that he is dealing with a new regime, I know that this is a lie. It is the same regime, with even more evil leaders who have replaced the ones killed by Israeli and US air strikes when the war began. Does he not understand that radical Muslims will never surrender or give up their openly stated goals of destroying the 'big Satan' and the 'little Satan.' ? God forbid, if that were to ever happen, who would save the world from being forced to convert to Sunni Islam or die ?

We know from the Bible, that God will not allow that to happen, but if President Trump continues with the 3 cease-fires that are in place at this time with Iran, Hamas and Lebanon, we in Israel know from nearly 80 years of experiences with our Muslim enemies, ending a war with a cease-fire is the most foolish and dangerous thing to do. Unless you finish the war you will have to face that same enemy again sometime in the future.

Remember: Ending a war is not the same as finishing a war.