For years, we were fed a seductive, cinematic myth: that if we simply struck the “head of the snake” in Tehran, the Middle East would miraculously reset. It was a geopolitical fairy tale, whispered in the corridors of the Kirya and shouted from the podiums of the Likud—a promise that a single, decisive blow would shatter the “Axis of Resistance” and usher in a new era of Israeli hegemony.

Now, in April 2026, as the smoke clears from the unprecedented direct conflict that began this past February, the sobriety of the morning after is devastating. We have hit the snake. We have struck the infrastructure. We have even seen the “elimination” of the old guard in Tehran. And yet, the “Total Victory” Benjamin Netanyahu promised us feels less like a triumph and more like a permanent state of siege.

The truth, as bitter as it is, must be stated plainly: Netanyahu has deceived the Israeli public and the White House into a useless, open-ended war. He has no exit strategy—not because he is incompetent, but because for him, the war is the strategy.

The Deception of the “Grand Plan”

When the “February 28 War” began, the narrative sold to the Israeli public was one of surgical necessity. We were told that direct confrontation with Iran would end the “war of attrition” on our borders. Instead, we have entered a “Forever War”........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)