Why soaring Israeli morale over the war on Iran exposes deeper delusion
Who's excited about the US and Israeli war on Iran?
As the Middle East is on fire, from Tehran to Manama, the Israeli weapons industry is licking its lips at the prospect of future sales to the Gulf states, many of which have recently taken direct hits from Iranian missiles and drones.
The Israeli defence sector has seen the vulnerabilities of Gulf nations and wants to rush in to exploit them.
"We have to honestly admit that, from the narrow Israeli perspective, the situation is not bad for us right now," a former senior defence official told the Israeli business outlet Calcalist.
The paper said that this man will travel to the Gulf after the war is over to sell new defence systems, missile defence shields and other weapons to war-weary Gulf governments. Israeli air defence systems have been deployed by Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan in this war.
Nowhere in these stories is it acknowledged, or even discussed, that nations like the UAE have made themselves almost completely dependent on Washington and Tel Aviv - and the last weeks have revealed the folly of this decision.
"It's going to be a bonanza for all intents and purposes," another Israeli defence official said.
There's been almost unanimous backing for Israel's genocide in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank. Dissent is rare
This optimism is warranted. Israel is now the seventh-biggest arms exporter on the planet. According to new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Israel accounts for 4.4 percent of the global weapons trade. The Jewish state has pushed past Britain in the top 10 rankings.
It is just one reason why the vast majority of Israelis support the war against Iran, believing the Israeli government's rhetoric that the dissolution or suffocation of the mullahs in Tehran will improve the strategic situation for Israel in the Middle East.
Thus far, there is no indication that will happen - and unsurprisingly, most Palestinians in Israel do not feel protected from incoming Iranian attacks due to the lack of shelters for them. It is, after all, a democracy for Jews alone.
The morale of Israelis has soared since the war began, according to a recent poll. Around 37 percent of Israelis expressed optimism about their country's future before the war, but today that figure is about 50 percent.
The pro-war Jerusalem Post framed this shift: "Despite the war, many Israelis have displayed a renewed sense of optimism, showing resilience in the face of adversity."
It is a comfortable illusion but completely removed from reality.
Addicted to war
Israelis are addicted to war, sold on the lie that just one more conflict will bring them security.
Every war since 1948, when Jewish forces ethnically cleansed Palestinian villages and towns during the creation of Israel, has led to a delusion of victory.
It is a belief that Jews are the chosen people and that nobody in the world has the right, especially after the Holocaust, to question or challenge Israeli actions. This has only been possible because virtually the entire western media and political establishment indulged it.
"No war in Israel's history, except for the first, brought it a long-term achievement," the Israeli journalist Gideon Levy wrote in Haaretz. "None. Zero. Most were wars of choice, and the choice to embark on them was always the worst."
Witness Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claiming that the war on Iran is turning Israel into a "global superpower".
Obedience to the Israeli military is baked into the Israeli mainstream media. Few, if any, questions are asked about the morality, legality or strategic necessity of launching endless wars against an ever-growing number of nations in the Middle East.
Today, the "enemy" is Hezbollah, Tehran and the Houthis. Over the next decade, if those forces are defeated, other entities will emerge - because that is the inevitable result of Israel raining death across the region.
I often hear western media commentators talk about the vibrancy of debate in the Israeli media and on the street. It is a dangerous lie, in the past and certainly today.
There has been almost unanimous backing for Israel's genocide in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank. Dissent is rare. Backing the Israeli army is the state religion. Endorsing Jewish supremacy is the law of the land.
The allure of the diaspora
I am currently investigating the origins of Zionism in the 19th century and how it addressed the presence of a large Arab majority population in Palestine.
A handful of voices expressed concern about the likelihood of conflict with non-Jews. But the overriding sentiment was that life for Jews in the European diaspora was intolerable, antisemitism was undeniably rampant across the continent, and Jewish self-determination was the only solution.
Follow Middle East Eye's live coverage of Israel's genocide in Gaza
Over 120 years after these debates took place, the allure of the diaspora versus a Jewish state is roaring back into view. The reason is obvious, as Israel's position in the Middle East can only be assured by brutal and relentless violence against a never-ending number of foes.
Just one more war. Just one more "victory". Just one more targeted assassination. Despite it all, legitimacy is solely missing.
Israel and Zionism can never be content with anything other than full capitulation of its rivals, requiring massive military budgets and the genocidal rhetoric to match
Knowing that Israel and the ideology behind it - Zionism - can never be content with anything other than the capitulation of its rivals requires massive military budgets and the genocidal rhetoric to match.
Retired Israeli general Uzi Dayan, speaking on Israel's Channel 14, recently outlined what he sees as Israel's next steps in Lebanon: "We need to act fast and with full force - occupy the territory, expel everyone there, destroy everything there, and turn it into a death zone, meaning no one moves around there."
It is the same kind of language that could have been used during its invasion of Lebanon in 1982 or against Hezbollah in 2024.
New year, same violence, illusory results.
This is the Israeli conundrum, and it will never be resolved while the Jewish state is wholly backed by western and Arab powers. The threat of Greater Israel is real and growing.
The greatest threat to peace in the Middle East today is the state of Israel.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
This article was sourced from Middle East Eye.
Read Full Article on Middle East Eye →