And then there is the uncomfortable truth that a total Israeli victory would expose something Washington does not always want exposed: that many of America’s Middle East policies have been built on illusions

America has long spoken the language of alliance when it comes to Israel, but too often it has acted in the language of restraint, delay, and managed conflict. Washington likes a strong Israel in theory, so long as that strength does not become too decisive, too independent, or too embarrassing to American strategy in the region. That is the great contradiction: the United States wants Israel to survive, but often does not want Israel to finish the job.

Part of this comes from America’s permanent fear of escalation. Washington is always looking over its shoulder at oil markets, Arab regimes, European opinion, the United Nations, and the next headline cycle. Israel, by contrast, lives in the real world of survival, where hesitation can be fatal and restraint can become a luxury reserved for people who are not being hunted. The American instinct is to freeze a battlefield into “containment.” Israel’s instinct is........

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