‘2025 must be a year of decision’

With an infectious smile and a pleasant manner, Jonathan (Yoni) Chetboun has an ease about him that belies the serious message that he brings to readers of this publication and the Israeli public regarding Israel’s future. In a recent interview with this writer, the forty-six-year-old Chetboun, who has enjoyed a successful career in the IDF, Knesset, and today heads an international business consulting firm, shared his thoughts on Israel’s future course of operations.

A member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in the Knesset during his tenure as an MK from 2013-2015, Chetboun also served as the Knesset’s deputy speaker. He served in the IDF in the Egoz Unit, which was founded in the 1990s to combat Hezbollah guerilla fighters, and later in the Golani infantry unit. Chetboun, who has served both on the battlefield and in strategic planning, received the Chief of Staff Citation for excellence in operational command during the Second Lebanon War in 2006 and holds the rank of Colonel (Res.).

Chetboun says that the 2006 War led to his entrance into the political and public arena. “During the Second Lebanon War, Israel conducted a strong war in the field, but on a governmental and command level, there wasn’t a clear strategy. It troubled me greatly. Now, we need to decide the overall goals of the war.”

Today, together with an experienced international team, he heads Kanaf, a Herzliya-based strategic business development firm dedicated to empowering Israeli companies to expand and thrive in global markets, with a focus on Europe. “With my military and international experience,” says Chetboun, “I understood that one of the significant drivers in strengthening Israeli diplomacy and connections with Israel is the business world, which drives Israeli technologies and creates cooperation between countries. With them, we can create diplomatic connections between countries. I have learned that there is a direct connection between strengthening Israeli and international diplomacy and business interests.

“Israel and the world must make 2025 a year of decision,” he declares. “Israel must take a critical decision regarding its future and attack Iran. An attack on Iran and the fall of the Iranian regime will present a tremendous opportunity for Israel and the West to stabilize the Middle East. Otherwise, it will be difficult to create other agreements with other Arab countries in the spirit of the Abraham Accords. All of the countries, such as Saudi Arabia, who want to normalize relations with Israel, are worried about Iran. As long as Iran remains a player, these proposed new agreements are not relevant.”

When it comes to Gaza, Chetboun is equally outspoken and direct. “We must tell the Israeli public and the world that there is no magic solution for Gaza without Israeli military rule over Gaza. Any other solution from any other player, such as the Palestinian Authority or from an international body like the UN, will fail. Israel must rule militarily, and it must be assisted by international bodies to help the population of the Gaza Strip. There is no other scenario in which the security of Israeli residents of the south will be given over to an outside party in Gaza,” he says.

Chetboun shares that Israelis have to be aware of the human and material costs of destroying Hamas and retaining military control over Gaza. “We must decide if we are going to close our eyes again and create a false sense of quiet and then get another attack on Sderot or somewhere else. One of our sins was to put citizens on the front instead of soldiers. This also happened in Lebanon. We exited the security zone in 2000, and we preferred to close our eyes and ended up with a monster named Hezbollah with its tunnels and other threats. A brave and courageous political and governmental leadership must tell this to the Israeli public. There are no other solutions.”

“As someone who has been in the Knesset, the IDF, and the business world, my expectation is that the Israeli leadership led by Prime Minister Netanyahu will make the courageous decisions necessary that will change the Middle East. We can’t remain in an intermediate state. It is not healthy, and we must make difficult decisions.”If Israel can implement these decisions, he says, it will experience significant economic growth and can transform the face of the Middle East. “I predict that 2026 will be a year of significant economic growth for the State of Israel after we change the face of the Middle East. Israel is not just a military power,” he explains, “but a geopolitical and economic force."

CHETBOUN STATES that today, the greatest threat to business and trade between the East and West is the future of maritime trade routes and the struggle for individual control of these routes by various countries.

The Chinese have attempted to wrest control of the maritime routes, the influence of the Houthi attacks on world trade is well-known, and the Iranians have been trying to gain a foothold in the Red Sea with their actions in Port Sudan.

“The overland commercial route from the East, passing through the Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Israel as an outlet to the sea toward the West, is becoming a very central point in the coming decade,” says Chatboun. “Israel will become the key endpoint for the transfer of knowledge and goods between East and West.

“Because of this, a stable Israel is in the best interests of the Western world. The trade war between China and the Iranians and the various militias makes the geographical location of Israel more critical.”

Chetboun adds that the Western world doesn’t truly understand the Islamic mindset. “When one reads the Hamas covenant and the ideology of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, it becomes clear that the deaths of innocent civilians do not alter their religious perceptions. They believe in destroying the Jewish state. Their motivation is not the same as those of Western societies. For them, it is a religious war.”

He says that US President Donald Trump erred in hosting Syria’s interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, in Qatar. “Anyone who follows him,” says Chetboun, “knows that when he came to the mosque in Syria, he said ‘Jerusalem is next.’ He acts as if he has patience and tolerance, but in the end, he will want to get to Jerusalem. The West doesn’t understand it.”

When Israeli soldiers entered Gaza, he continues, they found that every house had a map or drawing of Jerusalem. Hamas themselves called the war’ El Aqsa (Jerusalem) Flood,’ indicating their loyalty to Jerusalem. “We don’t understand that the entire Sunni movement which surrounds us wants to surround Jerusalem and destroy the Jewish people.”

The biggest surprise for Hamas, says Chetboun, was that Israel did not fold under the pressure. “We have fought more than a year and a half and are not stopping, despite the pressures from inside and out. The Arab and Muslim world  has been very surprised by this.”

If the State of Israel acts decisively in the next year, as Chetboun counsels, ultimately, it will become the most stable player in the Middle East. “All of the key players will want to work with Israel. I just hope that we make these decisions.”