Netanyahu’s latest war has few critics in an Israel embracing militarism | US-Israel war on Iran

In June, Benjamin Netanyahu declared “a historic victory that will endure for generations” after 12 days of war against Iran.

The decision to attack Iran again, less than a year later, was met with broad and enthusiastic support from Israeli politicians, including the prime minister’s arch-rivals, and from the public willing to endure death and major disruption of their lives.

Few prominent Israelis raised questions about why the legacy of a historic victory was another war, or whether the goal of airborne regime change was realistic.

After Iran acknowledged the killing of religious leader Ali Khamenei, support for the war increased even more as deaths and damage from Iran’s attacks on Israel mounted.

“The only thing I regret is that we didn’t do this last June,” said Tom Yaakov, a 30-year-old Tel Aviv tech worker, as he surveyed the damage to his apartment building from an Iranian missile attack. “It’s like an Israeli story I can tell my children: the tyrant was overthrown and my building was hit.”

In this strike, a 28-year-old Filipino maintenance worker died after being hit by shrapnel that led his employer to a bomb shelter. Hours later, a direct missile attack on a bomb shelter in Beit Shemesh killed nine people.

Donald Trump and Netanyahu appear to share a vision of a world in which international relations, negotiations and permanent agreements are replaced by military superiority, targeted killings and the possibility of permanent war.

Khamenei’s assassination was a spectacular display of their combined military and espionage power.

But Israel’s spy agencies have a decades-long history of taking out high-profile enemies, from generations of Hamas commanders in Gaza to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, with assassinations that do not destroy the groups those men lead.

By contrast, peace agreements with Jordan and Egypt that brought lasting stability to countries once considered mortal enemies are rarely celebrated by Israel’s current political leaders, said Mairav ​​Zonszein, a senior Israel analyst at the International Crisis Group.

The vital role of these agreements in Israel’s life was highlighted in this war, when the two countries offered the only route home to Israelis stranded outside the country when the airspace was closed to civilian flights.

From the civil war in Libya following the death of Muammar Gaddafi to the violent collapse of Iraq and the rise of the Islamic State after the US-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein, there are plenty of regional examples from recent decades to make you think about what might follow the death or departure of much-hated dictators.

Iranian-born Israeli journalist and activist Orly Noy rejected Trump and Netanyahu’s claims that the attacks were aimed at supporting Iranians fighting for change in their country.

“It requires great naivety to believe that what matters to them is the well-being of Iranian citizens or support for their struggle to liberate themselves from this oppressive regime.”

But Zonszein said there is little mainstream questioning about whether Israel’s use of military force is the best way to guarantee lasting security. “It’s puzzling why Israelis aren’t having this conversation enough. I think over the last 20 years Israelis are less and less interested in these deep questions.”

Alon Liel, former Israeli ambassador to South Africa and director general of the country’s foreign ministry, said the public embrace of militarism was partly due to Israel’s rapid economic growth and the expansion of its high-tech military sector over the past decade.

“I often say that it is impossible for Israel to live by the sword forever, but there are very few Jews in Israel who think like me,” he said. “Forty or 50 years ago, we were a very weak and small country in the Middle East. Israelis now see themselves as at least a regional superpower.”

“People say: We’re not 80 years old yet, and look how strong this country is. Look how our economy has survived these two and a half years of war. And look at our skyline, look at arms sales around the world.”

Liel said Netanyahu has presided over economic expansion and a military technology boom for much of the last three decades and is therefore partly admired by many voters.

This latest battle offers him a chance to strengthen his legacy and political standing ahead of elections due before October.

Violent domestic debates over responsibility for the October 7, 2023 attacks under Netanyahu’s watch were immediately set aside.

The killing of Khamenei, the leader who called for the destruction of Israel and sponsored a network of hostile groups in the region, makes it easier for the prime minister to campaign as a hard-line security candidate.

“There are two possible benefits for Netanyahu: a blow to Iran and the possibility that this could tip the scales and lead him to victory in the elections,” Nadav Eyal wrote in the daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. “Netanyahu probably doesn’t make any distinction between the strategic direction and the political direction, and that’s taking things softly.”

Trump’s request from the Israeli president for a preemptive pardon for Netanyahu in a long-running corruption case could gain traction if the war ends in a way that the United States and Israel can claim victory.

Some analysts have warned that the war would bring electoral dividends to Netanyahu. “Despite all the assumptions [Netanyahu] “There was no increase in the polls from the June war,” said Tel Aviv-based political analyst Dahlia Scheindlin.

“It may be different this time but it’s really important to watch the polls carefully because a lot of commentators misreported his victory after June and the polls just weren’t there.”

Zonszein said that even if Netanyahu loses power this year, Israel’s wars of aggression within occupied Palestine and against regional enemies will likely continue.

“Until the Israelis feel it in their pockets or there are more mass killings [of Israelis] “Unfortunately, this situation will continue until the international community stops them.”