Forever wars: Israel’s cycle of conflict shows no finish line

Less than a week after the signing of the memorandum of understanding between Tehran and Washington brought the stuttering, three-month-long US-Israel war on Iran to a close – for now – the verdict of Washington’s principal ally, Israel, was in. According to a recent poll, an overwhelming 92 percent of Israelis felt the US has signed away their victory over a decades-old enemy, with almost half of those polled saying Israel should continue its attacks on Lebanon and the pro-Iran group Hezbollah, irrespective of the urgings of Washington, its principal ally and sponsor. Recommended Stories list of 4 items end of list Israel has spent the years since the surprise Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, in Israel, which killed 1,139 people, fighting continuous wars across the region. It has committed a genocide in Gaza, killing more than 73,000 Palestinians and razing large swaths of the territory to the ground. It has attacked Iran twice, killed thousands in Lebanon while fighting Iran ally Hezbollah, launched multiple ground incursions into Syria, and launched sporadic strikes on the Houthis in Yemen, also allies of Tehran. Within Israel’s fractious parliament, support for the country’s wars offers one of the few points of consensus, even if individual politicians disagree on how they are prosecuted. Going into the war on Iran, Israel’s former chief of staff and one of the contenders to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Gadi Eisenkot, did not hold back. …