As the JC goes to press there is a universal expectation of an imminent Iranian response to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week - directly by Iran, through its proxy Hezbollah or both.

We pray that by the time you read this it will have been as successfully dealt with as the attack in April. But whatever happens, the world can be in no doubt of the nature of the Iranian regime. Not only is it the world’s leading funder of terror, it is driven by a determination not just to defeat Israel but to extinguish it - to wipe it, and its Jews, from the face of the earth. Israel does not just have the right to resist this, it has the duty. And in standing up to Iran, it is doing the job which too many in the West fail to understand is essential for our own good, too - even if many of Israel’s Arab neighbours do grasp that, and have thus become de facto allies.

One thing we do know is that whatever happens, Israelis will display the courage, determination and resilience which is in their DNA - all of which they showed after the atrocities of October 7.

That determination has many facets, some of which have been on show in a far more uplifting manner at the Olympics, which has been by far the most successful for the Israeli team, winning six medals so far with three (including Tom Reuveny’s gold in the Men’s Windsurfing) in a single day, surpassing the four medals it won in the 2020 games.

The Israeli athletes have had death threats, have been booed and have endured unprecedented security measures and yet have responded as if was water off a duck’s back. Israel is a nation full of heroes, and its Olympics team joins the roster.