“The early fear of a scenario in which the American president would turn against Israel became a resounding strategic blow with the leak of the harsh telephone call” between Trump and Netanyahu on June 1. That is how journalist Danny Zaken described the episode in Israel Hayom on June 2. The call was preceded by Netanyahu’s announcement that Israel would strike Hezbollah’s stronghold in the Dahiyeh neighborhood of Beirut. Netanyahu’s declaration followed a broad public demand in Israel to bomb Beirut, prompted by the army’s inability to confront Hezbollah and its fiber-optic-guided drones, which had killed soldiers and wounded many others. That demand came from the heads of communities along the northern border, from Kiryat Shmona to Rosh Hanikra, as well as from senior figures in the defense establishment and the media.

The names of the fallen soldiers shook Israeli society. The cry of northern residents, forced to run to shelters without respite, was directed squarely at Netanyahu and his government, which were accused of indifference, helplessness, and acceptance of the American diktat for a sham cease-fire. The exchange of blows in southern Lebanon was mockingly dubbed “the cease-fire war.” Thus, Netanyahu found himself with his back to the wall after the Knesset voted to dissolve itself, with elections already looming.

It turned out that Trump’s clock was running in the opposite direction from Netanyahu’s: Trump faces political and public pressure to end the war immediately, while Netanyahu faces the opposite pressure — to enter Lebanon with full force, bomb Beirut, and bring about a decisive military outcome that would put an end to the suffering of northern residents. Among the many abusive remarks Trump hurled at Netanyahu, one sentence seems to describe the disagreement between the two leaders better than any other, and to reveal something of the strategic dispute between Israel and the American administration: “Everyone hates you now… everyone hates Israel because of this.” Although Israelis hated Biden and accused him of constraining Israel’s freedom of action in its war against Hamas in Gaza, Trump’s position today does not appear far removed from that of the Biden administration.

It turned out that Trump’s clock was running in the opposite direction from Netanyahu’s: Trump faces political and public pressure to end the war immediately, while Netanyahu faces the opposite pressure — to enter Lebanon with full force, bomb Beirut, and bring about a decisive military outcome that would put an end to the suffering of northern residents. Among the many abusive remarks Trump hurled at Netanyahu, one sentence seems to describe the disagreement between the two leaders better than any other, and to reveal something of the strategic dispute between Israel and the American administration: “Everyone hates you now… everyone hates Israel because of this.” Although Israelis hated Biden and accused him of constraining Israel’s freedom of action in its war against Hamas in Gaza, Trump’s position today does not appear far removed from that of the Biden administration.

It is worth dwelling precisely on the word “everyone.” Who are all those people who hate Netanyahu? It does not seem to refer to European countries, which hate Trump no less than they hate Netanyahu. Nor does it refer to the Democratic Party or the American hard right, both of which detest Netanyahu, since he is so completely identified with Trump. Rather, it appears to refer to the United States’ allies in the Middle East, first and foremost Saudi Arabia. Alongside it stand Turkey, Pakistan and Qatar, which together with Egypt have formed an axis parallel to the alliance between the United States and Israel. The interest of the Saudi axis is to end the war and reach an agreement with Iran as soon as possible. This interest aligns with the mood of American public opinion and stands in complete contradiction to the mood of Israeli public opinion and to Israeli policy.

Immediately after being sworn in for a second term, Trump made his first visit to the Gulf states, led by Saudi Arabia, while Israel was not included on the agenda of that visit at all. Back in April 2025, in a revealing interview on Tucker Carlson’s program, Steve Witkoff explained American policy in the region. In an article I wrote in March 2025 under the title “The Gospel According to Witkoff,” based on that interview, I assessed that American policy did not align with Netanyahu’s pursuit of “total victory.” Today, as then, the Gulf states see Israel as endangering regional stability. In that article I wrote: “Netanyahu’s policy stands in opposition to the American interest as reflected in Witkoff’s public statements. And what is the American interest? The pursuit of regional stability that will serve the interests of the Trump administration’s two most important Arab allies — Saudi Arabia and Qatar.”

But in June of that same year, the tables turned. Israel attacked Iran, eliminated senior figures at the top of the military and the Revolutionary Guards in the opening strike, bombed nuclear facilities, destroyed air-defense systems, and demonstrated both the helplessness of the Iranian leadership and Israel’s military and technological superiority. Trump could not resist the temptation, and on the final day of the war sent B-2 bombers carrying bunker-buster bombs to strike the nuclear facility at Fordow. He called the operation “Midnight Hammer” and claimed the success as his own. The balance tipped clearly in Israel’s favor. For the first time in history, the United States joined a campaign against Iran alongside Israel. Without a doubt, this was the Iranian regime’s great strategic failure: It had failed to correctly assess what the American response would be to its refusal to reach an agreement.

But appetite grows with eating. The demonstrations of the Iranian people, who took to the streets en masse to protest the economic situation, convinced Israel and the American administration that the regime was at a historic low and that this was the opportunity to bring it down. We all remember the “help is on the way” promised by Trump, and from there the rest is history. The Iranian regime survived not because of domestic public support and not because of its military or economic strength, but because of the weakness of its adversary. From the very first moment, the Iranians identified the American vulnerabilities.

The first was broad domestic opposition to the war, which included not only the Democratic Party but also large parts of the MAGA movement. Trump failed to mobilize public opinion in favor of the war in the face of his opponents’ claim that Iran did not constitute a direct threat to the United States. Perhaps Trump thought Iran was like Venezuela, and that the Iranian Delcy Rodríguez was merely waiting for his courtship. Yet the main American weak point was the Gulf states. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the attacks on oil facilities in the Gulf caused oil prices to soar, weighing heavily on the pockets of American consumers.

Hatred of Israel in the United States stems from the American recognition that the alliance with Israel is a burden rather than an asset, and Netanyahu is the target of the growing frustration that Americans have been dragged into a war that is not theirs. Therefore, Trump’s interests and Israel’s interests are not identical. Trump saw the war against Iran as a geopolitical opportunity. It would enable him to benefit his allies in the Gulf, control Iran’s oil reserves, and thereby create economic leverage vis-à-vis China. By contrast, Israel’s interest is first and foremost existential. The October 7 attack, followed by the Iranian missile attacks on Israel in April and October 2024, generated a sense of real existential danger. That feeling penetrated deep into the hearts of Israeli citizens, who saw the destruction and terror caused by Iranian ballistic missiles falling indiscriminately over their heads.

We must not forget that October 7 was a strategic failure that Israel created with its own hands. The conception that the conflict could be managed; that the occupation could be maintained by separating the Palestinian Authority from Hamas; that quiet could be purchased by channeling Qatari dollars into Gaza; the feeling that one could thumb one’s nose at the world, that public opinion in the United States and Europe did not matter; and the hostile attitude toward the Biden administration — all these created the conditions for the outbreak of “the perfect storm.”

Netanyahu is the father of the great disaster of October 7. He flees reality, but reality slaps him in the face. “You are crazy,” Trump screams. “Everyone hates you,” he says, tying Netanyahu’s hands and preventing him from finishing the job. For Trump, Hamas and Hezbollah, Lebanon and Gaza are of no value whatsoever and are no more than obstacles on the road to realizing his ambition to become the world’s oil king. The weight of Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan is heavier than that of Israel. Trump is racing toward an agreement with Iran. For him, the war is over; he is acting to minimize the damage and will not allow Netanyahu to stand in his way. Danny Zaken called it a “strategic blow,” but it would be more accurate to say that Trump threw Bibi under the bus.

To be sure, Netanyahu continues his path, in the desperate hope that things will somehow work out. With the last fumes of fuel, he is rushing to snatch whatever he can to advance the regime overhaul in Israel and appoint his cronies to sensitive posts — the positions of “gatekeepers,” most of them hardline national religious fundamentalists — while trampling Israel’s democratic regime. Therefore, when Trump says, “everyone hates you,” he also means the overwhelming majority of the Israeli public, which is fed up with him and unwilling to continue living under his corrupt rule. Judgment Day is approaching, in both senses of the term: The court will determine his fate, and the public will have its say in the coming elections. He has brought hell upon us, and he must go.

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Our national mood is a topic of extensive discussion in the Arab press. The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which supports Hezbollah, is checking our temperature daily. Its editor, Ibrahim al-Amin, knows everything about us and takes great pleasure in our anxiety. “The public in the Zionist entity [his term for Israel], including its military and security leadership, know that any attack by Iran or Hezbollah will not be aimed at civilians or civilian facilities,” he writes. Those who wish to believe him may find comfort in his words.

However, it’s ironic that this Lebanese journalist is less interested in looking at what’s happening in his own country. If he were true to his profession as a journalist, and not a propagandist, he would report that the same anxiety is also felt by the Lebanese themselves, many of whom have fled Beirut. They understand that Nasrallah is leading them toward another colossal disaster. The slogan “Enough – We’re Tired,” displayed on billboards across Lebanon, reflects the national mood.

As in the case of the Palestinians, so in the cases of Lebanon, Iran, and yes, Israel, there can be no viable state without leadership, without an economy, and without democracy.

Nasrallah’s solidarity with Gaza is indeed impressive. He has mobilized all his resources to engage Israel in a secondary campaign, trying to relieve Hamas.

Yet, Nasrallah has never shown such compassion for the Lebanese. In 2020, his explosives warehouses caught fire, causing a massive explosion that destroyed the port and part of the city. He consistently blocks the formation of a functioning government, wanting to determine its composition, and the result has been economic collapse. The Lebanese people are struggling to survive, with no electricity and no medicine, living hand-to-mouth. Despite this, Nasrallah remains indifferent, caring only for his close associates. The Lebanese are exhausted—they cannot withstand another war, lacking hospitals and civil defense. They believe Nasrallah prefers to avoid solving Lebanon’s crisis, using solidarity with Gaza as a cover. They especially don’t understand why they should bear the consequences of a war initiated by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, whose goal is to eliminate the Palestinian Authority and ultimately hand the Palestinian people over to Iran.

We in Israel are not alone; our anxieties are also shared by those in distant Tehran. Like in Lebanon, the Iranian people are held hostage by the Ayatollah regime, which sows terror through the Revolutionary Guards. Like Lebanon, Iran is in a severe economic crisis, with one of the highest poverty rates in the world, skyrocketing unemployment, and crushing inflation. What the regime offers instead of a livelihood is the stale slogan “Death to America, Death to Israel.”

Not only Israel is far from Tehran, so is Gaza. The Iranian people don’t understand why they should sacrifice their lives for a cause that is primarily Arab. Hamas’s extreme religious ideology doesn’t resonate with Iranians, who launched a massive popular uprising after the regime murdered Mahsa Amini for wearing her headscarf improperly. The Iranian people are also clearly saying, “Enough – We’re Tired”: tired of the regime’s corruption, the state’s mismanagement, the sanctions, the regime’s intrusion into their private lives, and the restrictions on dancing, singing, and walking hand-in-hand with their partners in the park.

Similarly, in Israel, we tell each other—some loudly, some in whispers—“Enough, we’re tired.” The current government has plunged us into a deep, dark abyss, turning the question “What will be?” into the main topic of public discourse. Like the citizens of Lebanon and Iran, Israelis have also risen up against their government. Before October 7, they protested against Netanyahu’s intention to turn Israel into a “semi-dictatorship,” signaling his desire to integrate into the region and perpetuate his rule, much like the dictators in neighboring countries.

Perhaps the fatigue of the citizens, their distrust of their governments, and their aversion to war will eventually lead to a resolution in Gaza and the return of the hostages. Since the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, we’ve learned what the citizens of all three countries think, what they truly believe, and the level of public support their leaders have.

At first Netanyahu failed to suppress the rebellion and was forced to retreat under enormous public pressure. Yet the surprise attack by Hamas, with Iran’s encouragement and guidance, inadvertently quelled the protest in Israel. Dictatorial regimes view democracy, the right to organize and demonstrate, as a sign of weakness. The truth is the opposite. Only a strong, developing, and modern society can sustain a democratic regime and embrace its internal contradictions and debates. It’s important to clarify that Sinwar, Khamenei, and Nasrallah have imposed a war on Israelis, Iranians, and Lebanese—none of whom desire it.

While we’re on the topic of waiting, it’s likely that one of the reasons for the present delay in the Iranian attack (I write on August 15) is that both in Beirut and Tehran, citizens echo President Biden’s admonition: “Don’t.” The Israeli government also understands that its citizens are not eager for an all-out war. This is evident in Israel’s declaration that it has no territorial or other ambitions in Lebanon and prefers an agreement over war.

Perhaps the fatigue of the citizens, their distrust of their governments, and their aversion to war will eventually lead to a resolution in Gaza and the return of the hostages. Since the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, we’ve learned what the citizens of all three countries think, what they truly believe, and the level of public support their leaders have.

The outcome of the struggle in the Tehran-Beirut-Tel Aviv triangle will also determine the fate of the Palestinians. Although their leadership has caused a disaster of historic proportions, they are absent from the public arena. Hamas has elevated the Palestinian issue on the international stage, but a tragic result of this success has been that the Palestinians have identified with Hamas. By supporting Hamas and its actions, they have tied their fate to the Iranian regime that oppresses its people and to a sectarian Shiite organization that holds Lebanon by the throat. The Palestinians may have gained sympathy in global public opinion, but they have aligned themselves with the darkest and most dictatorial regimes.

Mahmoud Abbas’s visits to Putin and Sinwar’s complete dependence on Khamenei demonstrate the lack of historical vision that has characterized Palestinian leaderships throughout the generations. The pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the streets of New York and London, the recognition of the State of Palestine in Oslo and Madrid, and the lawsuit against Israel in The Hague do not solve the key issue: the lack of a leadership that could take these measures to a successful conclusion. Instead, the Palestinian leadership is divided, and the power struggle between its two factions has led to the terrible disaster we witness today. As in the case of the Palestinians, so in the cases of Lebanon, Iran, and yes, Israel, there can be no viable state without leadership, without an economy, and without democracy.

Meanwhile, Israel is not exempt from striving to resolve its conflict with the Palestinian people. The Achilles’ heel of the Iranian regime is undoubtedly the Iranian people; the Achilles’ heel of Hezbollah is the Lebanese people; and the Achilles’ heel of Israel is the oppression by occupation of the Palestinian people. Before October 7, the attempt to “manage” the conflict with the Palestinians, rather than resolve it, led the Israeli government to feed the Hamas monster, and this conflict has become the door through which the Iranian regime, under the guise of protecting the Palestinians, has entered our lives. The only way to prevent another October 7 and the nightmare of the current war is to resolve the conflict with the Palestinians.

Although trust between the two peoples has hit rock bottom, the understanding that continued control over another people will continue to determine the lives of Israelis, and that they will not find peace and stability until the Palestinians find theirs, is already seeping into the consciousness of a significant portion of the Israeli public. The Palestinians will have to part with their extreme religious messianism, and the Israelis will have to part with their extreme nationalist and messianic tendencies and reach a compromise based on democratic and liberal values, foremost among them the principle of equality.

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