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Guest Essay

By Mairav Zonszein

Ms. Zonszein is the senior analyst on Israel with the International Crisis Group and a contributing Opinion writer.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has been busy proclaiming victory in his country’s war against Iran. It’s a win that he seems to believe will secure his political future. For the moment, Israel has been swept up in a victory narrative that puts Mr. Netanyahu’s colossal failures surrounding Oct. 7, 2023 — and his longstanding legal woes — into the distant past.

Riding on that high, Mr. Netanyahu arrived in Washington on July 7, hoping to further capitalize on his rekindled affair with President Trump. The prime minister came into the White House fawning over Mr. Trump, handing him a nomination letter for the Nobel Peace Prize and talking up peace in the region, even as the future of Gazans, Israeli hostages and Iran’s nuclear program all hang in the balance.

Since the cease-fire between Israel and Iran went into effect on June 24,........

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