by Zev Kam, public news commentator and reporter, translated by Hillel Fendel.
It took only a bit more than a week
for the media onset of the usual nonsense about "cracks" in the
cooperation between the U.S. and Israel in the war against Iran. This is
precisely as it's been for years now in the Israeli media: In the first days of
a war, we see almost total unity behind the army, government, and war
objectives. But as the days go by, all sorts of hints of weariness and
impatience begin to pop up, and even doubts regarding the "justness of our
cause" – as if protecting ourselves against Iran needs justification. Then
come the reports of "gaps" and disagreements and even tension between
Israel and the U.S. This is how it happened in the war with Hamas, then
regarding the battles in Lebanon, and even now in this unprecedented war with
no-longer-nuclear Iran.
There are some who simply can't find
it in their hearts to enjoy all this goodness. Either they're impatient, or they
forgot the threat that Iran possessed, or their political agenda simply doesn't
allow them to do anything other than try to bring down or even just criticize
the government. So they look for any possible hint of disagreement between us
and America, and if they find some minor Administration official who can say a
half-sentence that shows less than total infatuation with Israel, they'll be happy
to spread far and wide "news" of the end of the American-Israeli
honeymoon.
The same
thing is happening with alleged American criticism of Israel's bombing of Iran's
gas reserves. The fact is that the coordination between Israel and the U.S. has
remained as tight as it was two weeks ago. The Americans are still determined
to go all the way, in contrast with the fake reports of "erosion" in
their resolve. Trump 2026, in the Iranian context, is the same Trump as in his
first term, when he quit Obama's nuclear agreement with Iran and successfully
targeted the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard (IRGC). He's also the same
Trump who was nearly assassinated by Iranians. He knows precisely what Iran is
and the extent of the threat it represents.
If
anything, his appetite is getting stronger. If last June Trump gave us 12 days
to wage a short war against Iran, this time he was predicted to give a full two
weeks - and the clock is still running now, nearly three weeks later. The great
early successes seem to have whetted his appetite, and he has therefore decided
he wants more.
In this
regard, we must clarify the respective goals of the two allies. Back at the end
of last year, before the Iranian protests started, the goals defined by the
Americans were very clear and precise: No nukes or intercontinental ballistic
missiles, degraded IRGC and proxies, no regional aggression, and an end to Iranian
missile development.
But during
January, when toppling the Iranian regime began to seem possible, the Americans
started to consider making this a war objective. This looked realistic
especially when Trump announced to the Iranian public, "Help is on the
way!" But we must remember that, in fact, absolute, official regime change
has never been an American war objective. No matter how many Iranian government
officials are killed and how many targets are bombed, in the end it's up to the
Iranian people: If they don't take down their government themselves, it won't
be done.
As of now,
therefore, both Trump and Netanyahu will be happy if their original objectives
are carried out.
If there
is any fear of tension between the U.S. and Israel, it has to do with "the
day after." It could be that precisely on the backdrop of the full
bilateral cooperation at present, the Americans might come and tell us,
"We were with you in Iran, now it's your turn to show us that you're with
us regarding the Palestinian issues and the Saudi demands." Just like we
were all sadly surprised when Trump announced his objections to Israeli
sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, it's not out of the question that something
similar will happen again.
On the
other hand, that is far from the only scenario. It could very well be the
opposite - that the Arab nations around us will realize that their own
existential interests overshadow the Palestinians, and that they would be smart
to continue their cooperation with the U.S. It would not be surprising at all
if after the war, we see a quick rejuvenation of the Abraham Accords, at the
expense of Abu Mazen and the Palestinian Authority.
On the one hand, if
the Iranian threat is neutralized, Saudi Arabia may feel it no longer needs us;
after all, why should they pay a price in domestic public opinion by aligning
with the Zionists? This is actually what happened after the war of last June:
The Saudis thought we had removed the Iranian threat hanging over them as well
as over us, and they therefore quickly distanced themselves from us.
Now, however, a fascinating partnership of fate has unwittingly emerged,
wherein both they and we, along with other Gulf states, are being attacked by
the same country. At the same time, the Saudis have discovered that the
alliance they forged with Turkey and Pakistan is nothing but a broken reed, an
alliance only on paper – for the Turks did not stand by the United States in
this war, choosing rather the side of the “bad guys,” and the Pakistanis mainly
looked for a way to avoid any involvement.
What Time Will it be Over?
Back home in Israel, many are asking how it is that it appears that
the Iranian missiles keep coming? Didn't we destroy them already?
The answer is that, numerically, Iran has in fact been firing fewer
and fewer missiles in each attack, even though the number of bomb sirens has
not decreased. This is actually the main challenge facing the IDF now: how to destroy
the most missiles and launchers. One explanation is the cloudy weather in Iran
in recent days, which has made it difficult to locate the launchers. In
addition, it must be remembered that the more launchers are destroyed, the
harder it is to find the rest of them. It will take a bit more time, but the
IAF has expressed its confidence to the government that it will happen. When we
reach, with G-d's help, a level of just one Iranian rocket per day, as it was
with the Houthis for a long while, the entire economy will be opened, including
schools and airports, and we will be in a different place.
Politically, what's going on with the elections scheduled for
this October? It is now clear that this year's annual budget will be passed by
the Knesset – an achievement that can be chalked up to Finance Minister
Betzalel Smotrich's credit. The following sentence has not been spoken or
written in Israel for over 30 years: It looks like the elections will be held
on time, and will not be advanced because of some political crisis or another.
All the talk about Bibi calling snap elections to take advantage of the war
gains seem to be just that – talk – assuming that the work in Iran will be
completed successfully.
And how did it come about that the hareidi parties agreed to support
the budget and not topple the government even without the lenient hareidi
recruitment bill they have been hoping for? It's complex, but the short answer
is that in exchange for other political benefits, they convinced their
rabbinical leaders that the charge of the hour now is to be united in the war
and put aside matters in dispute.
And now, for desert, an encouraging true story: On Monday I
happened to be in the Shivtei Yisrael synagogue in Givatayim for evening prayers,
when all of a sudden we heard the familiar bomb siren. We all went down to the
shelter, and within seconds, more people joined us as well: locals without a
safe room at home, passersby who chanced to be there, etc. So there we were: one
of us reciting aloud a chapter of Psalms, others with their knitted yarmulkes,
older secular neighbors, young couples, and more than one with a dog. Children
played and yelled enthusiastically around and about the adults – and all in
great harmony of the most Jewish type. Different folks, brothers sharing
troubles, brothers in Redemption.