Israel Grew Stronger as Resistance Turned to Opportunism — The Acceptance of the Palestinian People’s Destruction Helped, and the U.S. Knew Everything Before Dawn, Including That the Main Target Was the Iranian Revolution
The Israeli strike on Iran that took place early this morning has been hanging in the air for nearly half a century. Today’s Iran was created and shaped by the Islamic Revolution that in 1979 overthrew the pro-American Shah Reza Pahlavi. The revolution occurred at a time when Arab resistance to Israel had already been largely crushed through several short and intense wars in which Israel (always with substantial support from its Western allies) delivered massive blows to the then-unified Arab forces. Resistance then shifted to being Persian and ideological, with a few remaining pockets of opposition in the Arab world. Israel, meanwhile, systematically dismantled its opponents one by one — and recently, at a rapid pace. Assad’s Syria was broken, depriving Iran of its main stronghold. Then Israel decapitated Hezbollah by killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah while destroying parts of Beirut. Simultaneously, Hamas is being eradicated through a brutal campaign of destruction against the Palestinian people, with massive civilian casualties that both Europe and the U.S. are shockingly ignoring.
The story of Israel is always both infinitely complex and infinitely simple, depending on the perspective you choose. Israel and its supporters justify the founding of modern Israel through ancient religious texts and the horrific tragedies suffered by the Jewish people in the 20th century. But the simpler narrative is no less valid — Israel was also undoubtedly established as a neo-colonial outpost of the West in the Middle East, something clearly evident in nearly every Israeli move and reaction.
And so, we return to just a few hours ago, to this morning’s attack — who knows how many years or decades in the making. The first cynical claim to debunk is the notion that this attack was carried out without U.S. knowledge or involvement. Headlines on both sides of the Atlantic are pushing the narrative that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, somewhat brazenly, launched the attack on Iran while Donald Trump is supposedly working on peace through diplomacy.
This is not mere nonsense — it is deliberate misinformation. Not only did Trump know what was going to happen this morning, but it is also almost certain that he gave his Israeli friend the green light to begin the operation. And it wasn’t some vague approval, like in the early 1990s when Saddam Hussein thought he had a green light to invade Kuwait to recover from the massive losses suffered in his bloody decade-long war against the newly formed Islamic Republic of Iran.
The narrative of Trump’s supposed ignorance is designed to possibly prevent a direct Iranian retaliation against American military bases in the region. That might even work — because Iran is now in an extremely vulnerable position. This isn’t just a matter of being pushed out of Syria, or even the (Trump-authorized) assassination of General Soleimani near Baghdad airport, or the destruction of bunkers in Beirut’s suburbs where Nasrallah once hid. This is an attack on Iran itself — across Iran. The strike didn’t just hit nuclear program-related targets; civilian buildings housing scientists were also bombed.
Iran, now the last pillar of a crumbling Axis of Resistance, would need to retaliate forcefully to maintain any relevance in the narrative. And let’s not forget — that relevance underpins the entire structure of the 1979 revolution. But how do you retaliate if it’s technically unfeasible? Iranian drones were launched toward Israel, but it’s unclear whether they can even reach their targets or will be shot down over Jordan, Iraq, or Saudi Arabia.
Some say Iran should follow through on its threats and strike U.S. bases in the region. That might still happen — but that’s exactly what Netanyahu hopes for. The Israeli right-wing leadership knows this is a historic moment — they’ve never had a better chance to drag the U.S. into war with Iran. What happened this morning — allegedly a major operation involving over 300 Israeli aircraft — was likely just a probing strike aimed at triggering the domino effect Israel seeks. Everything has already been arranged with Trump; anything else would be surprising.
And what of the claims that Trump will be a “president of peace” who will “end the current wars”? None of that applies when it comes to Israel. Israel is the great exception to all rules — that much should be obvious by now. No country in 2025 (except perhaps the U.S.) can kill tens of thousands of civilians (the civilian death toll in the Russia-Ukraine war doesn’t even come close) and somehow have that relegated to a footnote or simply ignored. Israel can — and will. In fact, the ongoing massacre in Gaza is fueling the Israeli military leadership with such confidence that it’s no surprise they are now opening new fronts. They themselves probably can’t believe how much the Western world will allow them to get away with.
Iran, on the other hand, is fighting for survival. Its leadership knows the threat is not just external but internal as well. For some Iranians, this attack will confirm that war is at the doorstep, and they will prepare for it more intensely. For others, it’s a realization that peace will never come to their lives as long as this rivalry exists. Some look longingly at the Arab monarchies that have shrugged off the Palestinian issue and have for years now coexisted with Israel, receiving dividends from the U.S. in return. In other words, Iran’s clerical leadership knows it is sitting on a simmering rebellion that could erupt — or be incited — at the worst possible time.
Unlike U.S. militarism in the Middle East, with its megalomaniacal attempt to conquer Iraq (and later, possibly Iran and Afghanistan), Israeli militarism has a more modest goal — not to conquer Iran, but to push it back to where it once was (pre-1979). In that sense, these attacks serve a purpose. Every hour that Iran cannot or will not adequately retaliate strengthens the perception that the so-called resistance is built more on rhetoric than actual capability.
Israel can afford this — among other reasons — because it is the only nuclear power in the Middle East. They just had to wait patiently for Trump’s second term. Trump’s stance toward Iran has been pure antagonism from the beginning, which makes sense, as he channels various reactionary forces across the U.S. — including influential groups of Christian Zionists with their own fundamentalist agenda for Israel and its expansion.
All in all, the idea that Trump didn’t know about this morning’s events is peak cynicism. An even greater farce would be if the American president steps in front of the cameras soon and starts claiming he’s “angry” that the Israelis “acted unilaterally.”
The fate of the entire Iranian state now depends on its response to this strike. Without a concrete counterstrike, they can expect more Israeli attacks. Israel will now assess the damage done — and if needed, they’ll return. The Iranians undoubtedly knew this attack was coming. Everyone was writing about it; Washington was withdrawing personnel from the region. This was by no means a surprise attack — which is unusual for Israel (recall how surprise was key to breaking Arab armies in the 20th century, especially the Egyptian and Syrian ones). And yet, Iran seems paralyzed.
As for the nuclear program itself, the current U.S. Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, recently stated that there’s no indication Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons. She said this with full access to U.S. intelligence data. That confirms the Israeli strike was not “preventive” — it was aggressive. Of course, Israel will now use this aggression to justify more by claiming that even if Iran wasn’t thinking about the bomb, now it will. Countering that argument will be very difficult.
In the end, we can conclude that Israel is skillfully exploiting the current geopolitical configuration for its own goals. Western support is unwavering. The “condemnations” of the destruction of the Palestinian people are hollow. Numerous Arab Muslim countries abandoned resistance for opportunism long ago. Big business is being done in glittering skyscrapers on the western side of the Persian Gulf, while the bodies of civilians pile up under Gaza’s rubble. All of this gives Israel the space to continue — and the ultimate goal is simple: to install that calculating clique of authoritarian monarchies, who no longer care about solidarity or humanity, right into Tehran. But first, they must destroy the Iranian Revolution — and revolutions are not always easy to extinguish with bombs. Of course, it all depends on how worn out they are, and how much of their founding spark remains.
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