President Trump monitors U.S. military operations in Venezuela, January 3, 2026. (White House)
Michael Oren: From Caracas to Tehran
President Trump’s audacious action in capturing Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in downtown Caracas and airlifting him to prison in America is outstanding news for the democratic world and especially for Israel.
The operation follows many years that the United States turned its back on South America. Having visited the continent repeatedly in recent years, I witnessed the bitterness many of its pro-Western residents felt toward the American policymakers who they felt abandoned South America to radical leftists closely allied with Russia, China, and Islamic extremists.
Trump has utterly reversed this trend, reestablishing South and Central America as a pro-American sphere in which the U.S. will not tolerate hostile foreign intervention. Cuba, Nicaragua, and even Brazil must all take notice.
So, too, must Iran. Maduro was a major ally of Tehran and a facilitator of Iranian-backed terror. His arrest came just over a week after Trump, in the presence of Prime Minister Netanyahu, pledged to use military force to prevent Iran from rebuilding its ballistic and nuclear capabilities. Two days before the Caracas raid, Trump promised to intervene forcibly to protect Iranian protesters against the regime. The Ayatollahs can have no doubt that, as long as Trump remains in the White House, the days of their Middle East hegemony—and perhaps even their rule—is over.
All this is superb news for Israel. As in last summer’s war with Iran, Trump has again proven his determination to stand up to the isolationists in his own party and to protect American power abroad. I have long said that Israel is better off with a president who is critical of us but is willing to project power than with a president who supports us but refrains from using force. Trump both backs us and flexes American muscle worldwide.
The fall of Maduro in Venezuela could well mean the restoration of the Pax Americana in the Middle East. The demise of yet another virulently anti-Zionist dictator strengthens the hope for peace between Israel and Lebanon, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. The collapse of yet another Iranian ally could conceivably mean peace between Israel and Tehran as well.
This article was originally published in Hebrew in Ynet on January 4, 2026.
