In the architecture of statecraft, the most dangerous illusion is the belief that tactical escalation can substitute for a grand strategy. As Israel navigates the treacherous waters of the summer of 2026—a period marked by renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran and the grinding, open-ended presence of our forces in southern Lebanon—the discourse emanating from Jerusalem has become alarmingly uniform. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, alongside Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, has spent the last week broadcasting a singular, unrelenting message: Israel is ready to return to war with Iran at a moment’s notice.

While this rhetoric is framed as a posture of deterrence, for those of us deeply concerned about the long-term viability of the Zionist enterprise, it reveals something far more cynical. We are witnessing the normalization of permanent conflict as a tool of political survival. By tethering Israel’s national security doctrine to the prospect of an immediate return to the fray—often in defiance of the strategic preferences of our most critical ally—Netanyahu is not securing the state. He is trapping it in a cycle of attrition that erodes our international standing, stretches our military to its limits, and leaves us without a viable “day after” strategy.

The Mirage of Tactical........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)