Israel backs US-Iran ceasefire but Netanyahu’s war goals remain unfulfilled

Israel backs US-Iran ceasefire but Netanyahu’s war goals remain unfulfilled

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, expressed confidence in launching a joint US-Israeli military operation against Iran late in February. However, the tone of his office’s acknowledgment of the ceasefire announced overnight revealed a more cautious stance, underscoring that the decision was primarily driven by President Donald Trump. This marked a clear divergence from the assertive declarations of both the US and Iran, which celebrated significant outcomes after five weeks of hostilities.

Netanyahu described the operation as a success in remarks aired Wednesday night, yet he emphasized that the ceasefire did not signal the end of the conflict. He hinted at remaining objectives, either through negotiated terms or renewed combat efforts. The question now is: what does this conflict leave Netanyahu and Israel? At its onset, he declared the “goal of the operation is to eliminate the threat posed by Iran’s Ayatollah regime” and insisted the campaign would persist “as long as necessary.”

Despite these claims, Iran’s military forces continued to engage, and its leadership structure remained intact, though Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other high-ranking officials were eliminated in US-Israeli strikes. The nuclear program and stockpile of enriched uranium remain unresolved, while Iran’s missile arsenal, though weakened, has persisted in targeting Israel. In Jerusalem, missile alerts and explosions were reported overnight, even after Trump’s ceasefire announcement, with the Israel Defense Forces stating multiple Iranian missiles were launched.

Netanyahu’s ambitions vs. reality

Anshel Pfeffer, an experienced Israeli journalist and biographer of Netanyahu, noted that the prime minister had only mentioned a “suspension” of fighting, not a full cessation, before US-Iran talks began. He pointed out that Netanyahu had not publicly conceded the war was over, raising concerns about his strategic missteps. “This failure isn’t beneficial for him,” Pfeffer remarked, suggesting potential tensions with the US if the ceasefire was reached without Israel’s significant input.

Yair Lapid, leader of Israel’s opposition, called the situation “a political catastrophe without precedent in our history.” He argued that “Israel wasn’t present during decisions about our core national security.” Lapid added: “The army performed as expected, the public showed remarkable endurance, but Netanyahu fell short politically and strategically, failing to achieve any of his declared aims.”

Public perception and unmet expectations

Shira Efron, an Israel policy expert at the RAND Corporation, noted that Netanyahu had promised “this campaign would end the Islamic regime,” likening it to “cutting the head of the snake.” However, she observed that “the snake became a hydra,” as Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities endured. “For Israelis, whether 70 or 80 percent of missile threats were reduced, the difference was barely noticeable,” Efron said, highlighting the campaign’s challenges in meeting public expectations.

Yossi Kuperwasser, former Israeli military intelligence officer and director of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, differentiated between “achievable goals” and “wishful goals.” He stated that the former had been fully realized, citing the destruction of Iran’s nuclear and missile production sites. However, the latter—such as regime change—had not materialized, he said, and “this gap may cause uncertainty in US-Israeli relations.”

With Israel holding an election, Netanyahu’s political standing could shift in the coming months. While the ceasefire was hailed by the US, it left Israel’s prime minister grappling with unfulfilled ambitions and a strategic challenge to prove his leadership’s effectiveness.