People all over Israel are living in constant fear of missiles, rockets, shrapnel, and sirens. The whole country is in trauma and anxiety once again! Moreover, one third of the citizens of Israel don’t have “safe rooms” in their homes or shelters in their apartment buildings . Most communities of Israeli Arabs do not have either one. And Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the West Bank have none of the above (inequality in this issue is very glaring).

The wars go on and on, with no diplomatic horizon in sight. Not with Iran and not with Lebanon (despite the desire of the state of Lebanon to reach an agreement which would help them get rid of Hezbollah for the benefit of their citizens). Israel shows absolutely no interest in any diplomatic moves or any steps towards some kind of normalcy. There is no conception of “the day after” or an end to the wars. Only more and more war.

Moreover, the government of Israel hopes that the current Trump negotiations to end the war will fail, so they can keep the war going. They hope he is simply deceiving the world and will continue the war, until a successful end (like in Iraq and Afghanistan). They don’t seem to realize that the Iranian regime is resilient and that they still have plenty of weapons, and they are not going anywhere. After all, they survived after a ten-year war with Iraq!

The government of Israel has created very high false expectations about the possible outcomes of the war. The talk about “regime change” in Iran has mostly vanished although many of the people still believe in it and even expect it. Both the governments of the USA and Israel appear to be surprised that the Iranian government didn’t fall already! After the “shock and awe” of the first few days,........

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