How Iran shattered the myth of Israeli strength

Middle East Eye

5 hours ago

The 12-day war on Iran was unprecedented, unique in scope and seismic in implications. For the first time, Israel launched a war - not merely a limited operation - against a country it shares no border with, separated by at least 1,500 kilometres. More crucially, it marked the first time in history that the United States openly fought alongside Israel in a direct military assault.
A moment long in the making - shaped by decades of alliance-building, joint training, coordination and collusion - finally arrived. And while it was staged as a grand display of overwhelming strength and strategic unity, what it revealed was far more damning: a portrait of fragility, dependency, and a power structure cracking under the weight of its own myth.
A line was crossed.
Israel has long relied on the scaffolding of western support: political, military and financial. Its capacity to act with force has always been tethered to the might of its sponsors. But apart from its collusion with Britain and France in the 1956 war against Egypt, it acted directly alone on the ground in its wars.
What has changed is not the fact of dependency, but its exposure. No longer cloaked in euphemism or hidden behind closed-door diplomacy, that dependency now stands naked: unmistakable, undeniable.
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In 1948, when former US President Harry Truman recognised the newly declared Zionist state within minutes of its announcement, he did so amid fierce divisions within his own administration, with some advisers warning of the long‑term consequences of establishing a settler‑colonial state in the heart of the Arab and Muslim world.
In the ensuing years, Britain and France remained Israel's primary patrons, until the 1956 tripartite invasion of Egypt ended in a humiliating retreat under pressure from former US President Dwight Eisenhower, who threatened to sink the British economy unless they withdrew.
The real pivot came under Lyndon Johnson, the first US president to provide Israel with offensive weaponry, over the objections of the State Department. From that point on, the alliance deepened. Washington was no longer just a sponsor; it became the indispensable shield and sword of the Israeli project.
Illusion of autonomy
In 1967, US arms enabled Israel to seize the Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank and the Golan Heights in just six days. In 1973, when Egypt and Syria attempted to reclaim their occupied lands, former US President Richard Nixon ordered a massive resupply airlift, telling Henry Kissinger: 'Send everything that will fly.' And the weapons have never stopped flying.
Still, despite this support, Washington drew a red line at direct military involvement.
Even when Israeli and American interests were perfectly aligned, Israel was kept at arm's length. In 1991, as Saddam Hussein's Scud missiles struck Tel Aviv, former US President George H W Bush forbade Israeli retaliation, knowing it would fracture the Arab coalition that Washington had built.
Again in 2003, when the US and UK invaded Iraq, Israel - despite the benefits it stood to gain - was sidelined. The war dismantled a regional rival, but American officials preserved the illusion of autonomy.
Every time they pronounce the region subdued, it answers back: louder, wiser, stronger. Israel cannot win without the US. And the US can no longer win with Israel
Until now.
For the first time, the US has not just backed, funded or armed an Israeli war - it has fought it. Shoulder to shoulder, in the open, in full view of the world.
What changed was not Israel's strength, but its deterioration. Since 7 October 2023, Israel has waged a genocidal campaign against Gaza, bombed Lebanon and Syria, and pushed the region towards a full-scale conflagration.
It tried to cast itself as an invincible regional hegemon. But the illusion of self-reliance collapsed the moment Iran hit back.
Israel could not do the job alone. It turned immediately to Washington, and Washington obeyed. We now know that the US and Israeli militaries had conducted joint exercises a year earlier to simulate an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. That rehearsal became reality.
US President Donald Trump lavished praise on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Pentagon and the Israeli army struck in unison. No more fig leaves, no more choreography. Just the naked fact: Israel cannot fight its wars alone.
Entrenching resistance
In becoming totally dependent on the US under Trump, Israel has lost its place in the driving seat. Unlike 1967, when Israel claimed a solo victory and was hailed across the West, this time even the ceasefire was dictated by Washington.
When Israel tried to escalate after the ceasefire began, it was stopped cold: its pilots ordered to turn back, its leadership publicly humiliated as the US president swore at them on camera.
Dependency, it turns out, comes at the cost of sovereignty.
What was framed as strength became a confession. Not triumph, but exposure.
And the irony is stark. The more they strike, the more they entrench the very resistance they seek to extinguish. For centuries, this region has been invaded, divided and bombed - from Crusader knights to British generals, from French mandates to American missiles. Every time the West has declared victory, the region has risen again.
Because resistance here is not a slogan. It is not a tactic. It is a civilisational inheritance.
From anti-colonial revolts to liberation movements, from leftists to Islamists, from Sunnis to Shias, from Christians to Muslims - this region has forged a defiant culture. Its weapons have ranged from children's stones to long-range missiles threatening Tel Aviv. And still, it resists.
Gaza, starving, surrounded, burning, continues to fight. Under siege and genocide, it still refuses to break. Hours after the Iran-Israel ceasefire was declared, seven Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza - a reminder to the world that the enclave's resistance continues in full force.
Compare that to the collapse of three Arab armies in 1967 after six days, or the Palestine Liberation Organisation's evacuation from Beirut in 1982 after two months. What Gaza represents today is not just defiance; it is transformation. It is the evolution of resistance in the age of total war.
Arab regimes might bow, normalise and suppress. But their people do not. Look into any Arab or Muslim street, and you will find the pulse still beating, the flame still burning. Every dream of submission has ended in smoke.
Old consensus dying
Now, cracks are forming at the heart of the empire.
The old consensus is dying. Among Democrats, support for Palestinians has overtaken support for Israel. Among younger Republicans, the same shift is beginning. Even Trump's base is splitting.
The victory of progressive Zohran Mamdani over staunch pro-Israel figure Andrew Cuomo in the New York City mayoral primary was an earthquake - a warning sign.
The backlash was so sharp, Trump himself rushed to end the war, telling Netanyahu the US would no longer be involved
Trump's former strategist, Steve Bannon, put it bluntly, saying Netanyahu 'created this sense of urgency that doesn't exist … and did the salesman's upsell, we have to have regime change'. Addressing the Israeli prime minister directly, he said: 'Who are you to lecture the American people? The American people are not going to tolerate it.'
Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene echoed these sentiments: 'There would not be bombs falling on the people of Israel if Netanyahu had not dropped bombs on the people of Iran first … This is not our fight. Peace is the answer.'
The backlash was so sharp, Trump himself rushed to end the war, telling Netanyahu the US would no longer be involved. This, despite a leaked intelligence report revealing that Iran's nuclear programme had only been set back by a few months.
Within days, Trump pivoted from demanding Iran's 'unconditional surrender' to publicly thanking it.
Conservative commentator Candace Owens, once firmly aligned with Trump, posted: 'First thing I've seen in awhile that has united his base is Trump talking trash about Israel on camera. It's just a fact that everyone worldwide has Israel-victim fatigue.'
Israel-US attack on Iran: The price of Netanyahu's forever wars Read More »
The myth of unconditional support is dead. What once united the empire now divides it. The recent operations might look like a peak in US-Israeli coordination. In reality, this marks a fracture.
Trump's speech, proclaiming victory and partnership with Netanyahu, belongs in the archive of imperial delusion that has long haunted this region. It echoes French General Henri Gouraud standing over Saladin's grave in 1920: 'We are back, O Saladin.' It recalls British General Edmund Allenby in 1917 declaring the Crusades complete. It mirrors former US President George W Bush's smug 'Mission Accomplished.'
Every time they pronounce the region subdued, it answers back: louder, wiser, stronger.
Israel cannot win without the US. And the US can no longer win with Israel.
This is not a triumph. It's an echo of every empire that mistook firepower for permanence.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.