Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has staked everything — his legacy, his global standing, his relationships with world powers — on defending Israel against the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.

The topic has dominated nearly every major address the prime minister has given, from U.N. General Assembly speeches to addresses to Congress, for the last 15 years. And over the last four days, Israel has been forced to put into action a plan that was years in the making — one that could profoundly reshape the Middle East in the days and months to come.

As Israeli journalist Amit Segal notes, “And so Netanyahu’s life mission became dismantling Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Over the years, in meetings with U.S. presidents, the incumbent president would raise the Palestinian issue, while Netanyahu would focus on the Iranian threat. Menachem Begin destroyed Iraq’s nuclear reactor in 1981, Ehud Olmert did the same to Syria’s reactor in 2007, and Netanyahu vowed to do likewise with Iran.”

The writer Douglas Murray forecasted exactly this situation 13 years ago, speaking at the Cambridge Union: “When Israel is pushed to the situation it will be pushed to of having to believe [Iran] mean[s] it, and when every bit of jiggery pokery behind the scenes runs out, and when the U.N. and distinguished figures have run out of time, and Iran is about to produce its first bomb,” Murray said at the time, “Israel will strike.”

Israel’s Friday morning strikes came as the Trump administration’s announced 60-day deadline for negotiations expired, and following intelligence reports indicating that Iran was weeks away from nuclear capabilities — as Murray predicted.

What has ensued is the deadliest and most destructive direct conflict between Israel and Iran in history. At least 24 Israelis have been confirmed killed since Friday night in strikes around the country. 

For the last three nights, Israelis around the country have stumbled into safe rooms and public shelters as Iran bombarded the country with ballistic missiles.

And while the barrages, meant to overwhelm Israel’s defensive systems, have inflicted damage across the country, the vast majority of the roughly 350 missiles fired from Iran and Yemen over the last 72 hours have been intercepted by Israel’s missile-defense systems.

With Iran believed to still have nearly 2,000 ballistic missiles in its arsenal, the ongoing air raid sirens and attacks around the country could continue for weeks, stranding the more than 150,000 Israelis currently abroad as Israeli airspace remains closed. Israel’s Channel 12 reported today that repatriation flights may begin in the coming days, allowing stranded Israelis to return home. 

In the last 72 hours, more than a decade of warnings have crystallized into reality, a culmination of years of diplomatic efforts, proxy battles and intelligence operations. What happens in the ensuing days and weeks will not only determine the strategic balance of the region — it has the potential to reset the global order.