The Iran war was meant to deliver a defining victory over Tehran that would secure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's place in history. More than six weeks into the conflict, he has been unable to translate military might into political gain.

Despite Israel's overwhelming firepower, its enemies across ‌every front have been weakened but not neutralised. Even after heavy Israeli-U.S. airstrikes and the loss of senior leaders, Iran remains intact and defiant.

Tehran's nuclear stockpiles endure, its missile capability is now proven and it holds sway over the Strait of Hormuz, the artery for a fifth of global oil flows.

Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas has not been disarmed or dismantled in Gaza, and Iran-backed Hezbollah continues to fire rockets at northern ‌Israel from Lebanon.

"Netanyahu is not winning," said Danny Citrinowicz, a senior researcher on Iran at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies. "This war ⁠is a strategic failure. There is a gap between what he promised at the start of the campaign and where we ended up."

NETANYAHU'S ⁠APPROVAL RATINGS FALL

Netanyahu, 76, is paying a ⁠political price for a military campaign launched with U.S. President Donald Trump that has failed to deliver a decisive outcome, political analysts in the region say.

Netanyahu's approval ratings have slipped ‌and, with legislative elections due by late October, the political risks he faces are rising.

Netanyahu's office did not respond to a Reuters request for comment for this........

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