Israel's Forever Wars Bring No Security Gains
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- 92% of Israelis polled felt the US signed away their victory over Iran by signing the memorandum of understanding with Tehran, with almost half saying Israel should continue attacks on Lebanon and Hezbollah regardless of Washington's urgings.
- Israel has fought continuous wars since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that killed 1,139 people — including a Gaza campaign that killed over 73,000 Palestinians, two attacks on Iran, thousands killed in Lebanon, multiple ground incursions into Syria, and strikes on Yemen's Houthis.
- Opposition leader Yair Lapid called the US-Iran deal "one of the most shocking failures of Israel's foreign and security policy," placing blame entirely on Netanyahu.
- Tel Aviv University sociologist Daniel Bar-Tal linked Israeli support for the wars to a process connecting the October 7 attack to the Holocaust as the "central anchor" of Israeli identity, embedding a sense of collective victimhood and "delegitimisation of Palestinians" into national consciousness.
- Analyst Shaiel Ben-Ephraim identified two engines behind endless war: Netanyahu's need to avoid accountability for his corruption charges and October 7 failures, and a doctrine shared by all major candidates for prime minister — Netanyahu, Bennett, Eisenkot — that demands crushing any threat before it develops with no diplomatic off-ramp.
- Netanyahu reportedly told US allies Iran's regime would fall within days of the war's start, yet Iran "remains steadfast" while Hamas still controls large parts of Gaza — and few Israelis believe the country is significantly more secure than before October 7.
Why it matters: With elections looming later this year, Netanyahu carries the baggage of an ongoing corruption trial and the failures of October 7. Analysts say all major candidates for prime minister share a doctrine rejecting diplomacy — meaning the 73,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza and thousands more in Lebanon may not produce the security gains they were promised after nearly three years of war.
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