Israel Will Always Have Gaza
Adhering to the fundamental pattern of his policy, Trump is eager to escape a trap that would ensnare the United States in a prolonged war that could spill over into countries with which he has signed agreements worth trillions of dollars and hinder his quest to "make America great again."
His targets are precise. There is still no complete information on the extent of the destruction caused to Iran's nuclear program, and it is unclear whether the bunker-busting bombs destroyed all the uranium enrichment facilities at the Fordow site.
Nevertheless, it seems Trump has decided that what has been done is sufficient to create the conditions for the diplomatic phase, which will ensure the completion of the military move by means of an agreement toward which he strove during the 60 days he gave Iran before the war.
Trump joined the attack with a very clear conception that "total victory" is a subjective definition whose accomplishment must not be affected by messianic ideologies that would give the war the standing of an eternal war.
Israel, in contrast, went to war with a set of goals that expanded as the conflict lengthened, following the model it developed in the current war in Gaza.
From destroying uranium enrichment infrastructure and eliminating knowledge centers, it moved to targeting symbols of power, attacking the notorious Evin Prison – ostensibly to aid regime opponents (while endangering prisoners' lives) – and declaring that the longevity of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his regime were not guaranteed.
From Israel's perspective, the futures of Iran and the Gaza Strip should be identical. But then Trump came along and changed the rules.
But all is not lost. As Bezalel Smotrich so aptly put it: "We have achieved a crushing victory in the campaign against Iran that will be recorded gloriously in the pages of Israel history. Now, with all this strength, to complete the task, destroy Hamas, return our hostages and, with God's help, to guarantee the people of Israel many years of security and growth that come from might."
Smotrich surely is aware of the vast difference between Iran and Gaza. The "crushing victory" stopped short of "regime change," Tehran's ballistic missiles still threaten Israel as well as Iran's neighbors and its abilities to disrupt international shipping in the Persian Gulf were not diminished.
Despite all this, Trump decided that the "shock and awe" the Israeli-American partnership inflicted on Iran was enough to begin touting the next, diplomatic phase, in which Israel will cease to be a partner. In the face of the conditions set by the United States for the war on Iran, the Smotrichian ideology that permeates the entire Israeli government has no choice but to adopt the American "total victory." The story in Gaza is completely different.
Tragically, the war in the Strip will continue to be a wholly Israeli-owned entity. In this war, which long since lost its military justification and moved into the realm of messianic ideology, the authority to determine when victory has been achieved is not in the hands of Trump, who has already wearied of it.
It is Smotrich who will dictate to the prime minister and the entire country what victory is and when it will be achieved, and he's in no hurry to do so.
That is because in Israel – which has begun to take a moral inventory after examining the roots of the colossal failure of the military and the intelligence community – the government is still standing. And it has no intention of admitting guilt, taking responsibility or even simply examining its substantial contribution to the historical disaster that it caused.
The military success of the attack in Iran is now expected only to delay further the process of drawing political conclusions; after all, one does not settle accounts with "the hero of the war" over the failures of the past. What could be a greater victory than this?
Zvi Bar'el