Decision Points Podcast S5 E9: Ring of Fire: How to Disrupt Iran’s Proxy Network Against Israel

Since Israel’s founding in 1948, it has never faced a reality quite like this: seven active combat fronts in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, the West Bank, Gaza, and Yemen. This multifront threat was the vision of Qasem Soleimani, the late Iranian general who referred to it as a “ring of fire” designed to suffocate Israel with proxy attacks on all sides. Now that this vision has been realized, how do Iran’s broader regional ambitions align with the local interests of these proxies? And what can the United States and Israel do to counter the power and resilience of these groups? In this episode of Decision Points, host David Makovsky welcomes three experts to help unpack Iran’s proxy network and its broader geopolitical implications. Michael Knights is a senior fellow at The Washington Institute and co-creator of its Militia Spotlight platform. Zohar Palti is the Institute’s Viterbi International Fellow and former head of the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Political-Military Bureau. Patrick Clawson is the Morningstar Senior Fellow at the Institute and director of its Viterbi Program on Iran and U.S. Policy.