Israeli support for regional wars persists after US-Iran deal

Many Israelis remain supportive of continued military campaigns after a Washington-Tehran agreement halted the three-month US-Israeli war on Iran, Al Jazeera reported. The reaction matters because Israel is heading toward elections while fighting or striking across several fronts.

Al Jazeera, citing a recent poll, reported that 92 percent of Israelis believed the United States had bargained away Israel’s victory over Iran. Almost half of those surveyed said Israel should keep attacking Lebanon and Hezbollah despite pressure from Washington, Israel’s main ally and backer, according to the report.

The agreement between Tehran and Washington came after months of strikes involving the US and Israel against Iran, Al Jazeera reported. The deal left Israeli politicians arguing over blame, but not over the broader premise of military action.

Wars across several fronts

Since the Hamas-led attack in Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel has fought sustained conflicts around the region, Al Jazeera reported. The attack killed 1,139 people, according to the outlet.

Al Jazeera reported that Israel’s war in Gaza has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and destroyed large parts of the territory. It also reported that Israel has attacked Iran twice, fought Hezbollah in Lebanon, carried out ground incursions in Syria and launched intermittent strikes on the Houthis in Yemen, who are aligned with Tehran.

Inside Israel’s parliament, backing for the wars has become one of the few areas of broad agreement, Al Jazeera reported, even as politicians differ over tactics. Former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, a possible challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called the strikes on Iran “the most just war in recent decades against the most bitter enemy” in an early March interview cited by Al Jazeera.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid also supported action against Iran, Al Jazeera reported. After Washington reached its deal with Tehran, Lapid blamed Netanyahu, calling the outcome “one of the most shocking failures of Israel’s foreign and security policy”.

Analysts point to trauma and politics

Daniel Bar-Tal, a sociologist at Tel Aviv University, told Al Jazeera that Israeli reactions are tied to the way the October 7 attack was linked in politics, media and society to the Holocaust, which he described as a “central anchor” of Israeli identity. He said ideas including collective victimhood, national righteousness and the delegitimisation of Palestinians have helped build public support for Israel’s wars.

Shaiel Ben-Ephraim, an Israeli analyst and academic, told Al Jazeera that Israel has not reached a clear endpoint in its conflicts. “There is no particular achievement that will stop this eternal war,” he said.

Ben-Ephraim said two forces are driving the continued push for war: Israel’s immediate political situation and a broader shift in Israeli thinking after October 7. He told Al Jazeera that Netanyahu believes keeping a war active can help him avoid accountability for the October 7 failures and for his corruption case.

Netanyahu faces elections later this year while still on trial on multiple corruption charges, Al Jazeera reported. The outlet said he also faces criticism over the October 7 attack and over failing to deliver decisive outcomes against Iran and Hezbollah.

Ben-Ephraim said Netanyahu and other leading figures, including Naftali Bennett and Eisenkot, share a defence doctrine built around destroying threats before they grow. He told Al Jazeera that, after October 7, many Israelis concluded that deterrence and diplomacy had failed.

According to Ben-Ephraim, that outlook makes future wars likely even if Israel claims gains in Lebanon or elsewhere. He said only a major reversal in Israel’s strategic position would change the pattern.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.