Israeli analyst: Our greatest defeat was at the hands of Iran

Nahum Strasser, in an article published in the Haaretz, acknowledged that, despite some tactical gains, Netanyahu has led Israel toward a strategic defeat on both political and military fronts.

According to the author, Israel’s status as Washington’s favored child has been shaken, with Saudi Arabia now taking that position.

He added: “Our standing in the international community has also fallen to its lowest level in history. Militarily, we defeated Hamas but failed to destroy it. Today, any territory we withdraw from immediately falls back under Hamas control, and the group still possesses 20,000 armed fighters.”

The Israeli analyst also referred to Hezbollah in Lebanon, writing that the group has not surrendered nor handed over its weapons; rather, it is rebuilding and reorganizing, remaining a potential threat to the Galilee. Even after the assassination of its chief of staff, Hezbollah retains this capability.

However, the author argued that Netanyahu’s greatest defeat has been on the Iranian front. According to him, immediately after the 12-day war, Netanyahu claimed a historic victory against Iran, asserting that two existential threats—its nuclear program and 20,000 ballistic missiles—had been neutralized. In reality, nothing was achieved against Iran. Iran has not surrendered, neither in its nuclear program nor in strengthening its ballistic missile capabilities, which are now reportedly capable of launching 2,000 missiles per day in a future confrontation with Israel.

The Israeli analyst emphasized: “Netanyahu has achieved no success in defeating any of our enemies. Politically and militarily, we find ourselves in a worse position. All threats remain, and as for decisive victory, I would say the worst figure in Jewish history has brought us a strategic defeat of historic proportions.”