As the region continues to endure the escalating Israeli-American war against Iran, international calls to halt the confrontation are growing louder. Air traffic has been suspended across several countries, economic pressures are mounting, and anxiety is spreading through a region that sits at the heart of the global energy system. The ripple effects are becoming impossible to ignore. The human toll has been severe. Within the first five days of the war alone, Iran reported more than 1,000 deaths, including several senior figures within its central leadership, including the Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei. Meanwhile, the Gulf states have been shaken by an unfamiliar shock as Iranian retaliatory strikes targeted American and Israeli facilities across the region, attacks that have unsettled their sense of security and stability. Yet the United States has not escaped the consequences either. If anything, Israel may emerge as the war’s principal—if not sole—strategic beneficiary. A quick reading of recommendations issued by major Israeli policy institutes reveals how Israeli strategists view the conflict’s potential gains. Their analyses not only frame the perceived benefits of confronting Iran but also offer a glimpse into the trajectory and objectives Israel may be pursuing in this war. All of this raises a pressing question: what exactly is the United States seeking to achieve—and what does it stand to gain—from this conflict?

Israeli policy institutes have been remarkably explicit about what they believe must be achieved if Israel and the United States wage a joint war against Iran. Their recommendations revolve around a set of strategic objectives that, in their view, should define the endgame of such a confrontation. The Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), one of Israel’s most influential think tanks, has argued that the foremost priority should be preventing Iran from rebuilding either its nuclear or missile capabilities once the war subsides. Achieving that goal, according to the institute, would require sustained strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, the disruption of any attempt to revive its missile program, and the systematic crippling of its military-industrial base. A separate report from the same institute urges Israel to continue what it calls the strategy of the “war between wars” against Iran, a doctrine that relies on persistent pressure short of full-scale war. This approach combines covert intelligence operations, limited military strikes, economic sanctions, and diplomatic pressure, ideally carried out in close coordination with the United States. In a third assessment, the institute advised the Israeli government to work actively to reduce the likelihood that Russia or China might assist Iran in rebuilding its military capabilities after the conflict. Another influential policy center, The Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security – JISS, has framed the objective in even broader terms. In its view, Israel’s strategic goal should extend beyond Iran itself to the dismantling of Tehran’s regional alliance network.

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A report from the Begin–Sadat Center for Strategic Studies goes even further,........

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