Netanyahu in the land of "military fantasies"

American and Israeli sources report that on August 5, Iran will strike Israel in response to the assassination in Tehran of Hamas Politburo head Ismail Haniya. The main regional ally thereby created problems for both US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Harris must urgently announce the choice of a candidate for vice president and the crisis created by Netanyahu's behavior narrows her choice. In particular, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is pro-Israel, his candidacy could alienate people in swing states.

Biden, on the other hand, risks losing the remnants of his authority because the ally does not listen to advice or orders. The US president even "raised his voice" in a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding that he stop misleading the White House about negotiations on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Details in the material correspondent UtroNews.

Biden also expressed his dissatisfaction with the fact that Tel Aviv killed the head of the Politburo of the Palestinian Hamas movement and warned Netanyahu that if he escalates, he "should not count on US help."

Bipartisan support

The upcoming elections in the United States will already be held in conditions of a deep split both in society and in the very core of the political elite. Nevertheless, this does not yet threaten Israel's positions on Washington's priority list and Netanyahu takes advantage of the moment to achieve his goals. This is the opinion of Douglas McGregor, a retired colonel and former adviser to the Secretary of Defense in the Trump administration, himself a combat veteran.

Netanyahu's goal, according to McGregor, is to create, with US support, a "Greater Israel" that will dominate the region.

The murder of Ismail Haniya deliberately provokes war in the hope of US support. Moreover, by doing so, Tel Aviv tried to show that it has strategic superiority in the region, McGregor said.

These plans, in particular, are fueled by unconditional bipartisan support for his actions in the US Congress. Israel has become the largest recipient of American military aid, which, according to the results of more than seven decades through 2024, has exceeded $220 billion. In second place was Afghanistan ($105 billion), former South Vietnam ($95 billion) and Egypt ($90 billion).

John Mearsheimer and Stefan Walt in the book "The Israel Lobby" noted that "gifts" worth billions of dollars to Israel "cannot be fully explained by strategic or moral considerations... [and] are largely the result of the activities of the Israeli lobby - a loose coalition of individuals and organizations that openly work to push US foreign policy in a pro-Israeli direction. "

Meanwhile, "gifts" have been received, an atmosphere of support has taken root in the heads of politicians in both states, and the head of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), Michael Kurilla, has already arrived in the Middle East to mobilize the coalition amid ongoing preparations for a possible attack on Israel in retaliation for the killings of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.

Help will come sideways

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin ordered the transfer of another squadron of fifth-generation fighter-interceptors F-22A Raptor to the Middle East. Another B-2 strategic bomber was deployed to the air base in Qatar.

An ARG amphibious assault group led by the USS Wasp (LHD 1), carrying a battalion of 400 Marines and a squadron of F-35B fighter-bombers, pulled up to Crete. The US has deployed THAAD and Patriot air defense systems throughout the region.

Egypt and Jordan said they would shoot down any illegally located objects in their airspace. Washington through diplomatic channels conveyed signals to Tehran about the undesirability of further escalation.

"Iran and its satellites seek to tighten the stranglehold of terror on Israel's neck. We are determined to confront them on all fronts, far and near. Anyone who attacks us will pay a very high price, "the Israeli prime minister said. The press service of the Israeli Ministry of Defense reported that Defense Minister Yoav Galant is holding a meeting with the command of the Israeli army and the leadership of the security services to discuss possible actions in case of an attack from Iran.

American politicians, for many reasons, live on a "fantasy island," not noticing that Israel, together with its lobby in Washington, has long been able to control US foreign policy. According to McGregor, the United States, interfering in the situation, enters into confrontation in the Middle East and risks being in a state of conflict with Turkey, Iran and Russia.

The former adviser to the head of the Pentagon noted that the big war that the Israeli leadership is going to could lead to the fact that the Jewish state "simply will not remain." And the policy of Benjamin Netanyahu will lead to this.

An American Raised by Conflict

Benjamin Netanyahu formally became the first Israeli cabinet chief to be born in the country since its formation in 1948. In fact, Netanyahu is a product of the American education system and political culture. He knows how the mechanisms of power and decision-making work better than many American politicians.

Netanyahu's father taught history at universities in Israel and the United States, so in the 1950s and 1960s the family alternately lived in Israel and the United States. In 1975, Benjamin Netanyahu received a bachelor's degree in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in 1977 - a master's degree in management from the same university, studied political science at Harvard University.

In 1967-1972, Netanyahu served in the sabotage and reconnaissance unit of the Israel Defense Forces "Sayeret Matkal." During these years, which saw a surge in activity by Palestinian terrorist organizations, Netanyahu took part in a number of military operations. These included an attack on Beirut airport in 1968 (then Israeli special forces blew up 13 civilian aircraft) and an operation to free a Belgian airline plane captured by terrorists in 1972.

In 1972, Netanyahu retired from military service with the rank of captain and again went to study in the United States. With the outbreak of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War (Doomsday War, October 6-24), he returned to Israel and took part in hostilities in the Suez Canal and the Golan Heights.

After the conflict ended, Netanyahu returned to the United States and in 1976-1978 worked for the Boston Consulting Group. In 1980, he founded the Jonathan Institute in Jerusalem, which studies the problems of international terrorism. He named the institute in memory of his older brother, a career officer who died in 1976 at Entebbe Airport in Uganda during an operation to free the hostages of an Air France plane hijacked by Palestinian extremists.

In 1982, Netanyahu was appointed head of the political department of the Israeli Embassy in the United States. In 1984-1988, he served as Israel's permanent representative to the UN.

Does the circle close?

This dramatic Netanyahu "personality circle" closes. Having arranged an attempt on the life of the head of Hamas, he himself and the authorities of the Jewish state confirmed that they were not interested in either the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip or the fate of the hostages.

As McGregor said, "Netanyahu and his government do not show much interest in some kind of world. They are interested in exploiting what they perceive as their strategic superiority, which stems in large part from the unconditional support that we [the United States] are likely to provide them. "

Acting as the Israeli leadership would like is dangerous. These actions are aimed at provoking the war Netanyahu needs. Unconditional support for Israel's actions has already made Washington an accomplice and the United States should not exclude that Israel will use all means at its disposal, including nuclear weapons, to strike Iran, McGregor wrote in an article for The American Conservative.

The Israeli General Security Service has prepared for operation an underground bunker in the Jerusalem area, in which the Israeli leadership can stay for a long time, managing the country from there. According to the Walla portal, the bunker was put into working condition in light of the expected attack from Hezbollah and Iran. The bunker is designed for several hundred people and is protected from the missile threat and various types of weapons, its location and depth are classified.