– A K Kukkila
Editor, Sanmarga Kannada Weekly & News Channel
Netanyahu is no longer the same as he was when he declared war on Iran on June 13 under the name Operation Rising Lion. Iran has dealt a crushing blow to his Lion. For the first time, pictures and videos of collapsed buildings in Israel have appeared on social media. The world has seen scenes of Israeli citizens crossing the border into Cyprus in fear, unable to see their way.
The devastation caused by Iranian missiles in Israel has made the Indian media, which used to wave its baton in favour of Israel, change course. They have started opening their mouths about the massive damage caused to Israel. These media themselves have come to the point of admitting that the balloon called Israel, which they themselves inflated, is a firecracker against Iran. If it were not for America’s support, Iran would have brought Israel to its knees within three or four days. Now that Israel and Iran have agreed to a ceasefire, it seems like a good time to take stock of this entire war. In this context, there are some questions:
- Did Netanyahu think that a situation could arise where the war would have to be stopped in just 12 days?
- Why did Netanyahu, who had said that his goal was to change the regime in Iran, now agree to a ceasefire without achieving that goal?
- Why is Netanyahu, who had declared that he would not let the Iranian religious leader Khamenei go unpunished, now acting as if he had forgotten that very word?
- What if Trump really wanted this war? Did he have his own reasons for it?
- Was there a strategy behind Trump’s attack on Iranian nuclear reactors after waiting for ten days?
- Who really gained the upper hand in this war?
If there is a leader who lost in this war, it is Netanyahu. If there is a leader who won, it is America’s Trump. If there is a leader who knows the difference between defeat and victory, it is Ayatollah Khamenei.
Trump had a disagreement with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Netanyahu had repeatedly gone beyond Trump’s words on the Gaza issue. Netanyahu also has the egoistic quality that Trump has. Therefore, these two qualities cannot coexist. That is why sometimes openly and often internally, these qualities kept clashing. Perhaps, to reduce Netanyahu’s reputation and make Israeli citizens hate Netanyahu, there is a strong suspicion that Trump incited Netanyahu to go to war against Iran.
Another evidence for this is that Trump did not enter the arena for 10 days after the war began. These 10 days were very important for Iran. Iranian missiles destroyed most of Israel’s cities and military bases. They forced civilians to live in bunkers. Netanyahu was so upset by the flood of Iranian missiles that he said Iran was planning to assassinate Trump. Netanyahu wanted Trump to enter the war zone, at least in this name. However, Trump did not enter the war zone. Protests began in Israel against Netanyahu. Citizens fled to Cyprus in droves. There was destruction throughout Israel. After that, Trump washed his hands of the bombardment of 3 Iranian nuclear reactors. At the same time, there is a strong report that the enriched uranium from these three reactors was shifted elsewhere. This means that this attack did not benefit the United States or Israel’s objectives. After this bombing, Iran attacked Israel even more fiercely.
On the other hand, Iran launched missile attacks on American military bases in Qatar, Bahrain and Iraq without informing the United States. But in return, America has not carried out any attack. Qatar is Iran’s closest ally. If all the Arab countries have maintained good relations with Iran, then only Qatar has. Even when Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a boycott on Qatar for 43 months, only Iran helped Qatar. It is truly surprising that Iran attacked American bases in such a country.
On the one hand, there is a propaganda in Gulf countries that Iran is a Shiite country and is dangerous for Sunnis. Israel is always trying to keep this propaganda alive. At such a time, this attack by Israel on Bahrain and Qatar may again become a reason for Sunni-Shia debate. This attack may also be a reason for Qatari and Bahraini citizens to hate Iran. Both these countries have already strongly condemned Iran for violating their sovereignty. Meanwhile, Iran has apologised to Qatar.
In this context, it seems that Trump’s strategy has won. On the one hand, he has succeeded in completely destroying Netanyahu’s reputation, and on the other hand, he has succeeded in inciting Sunni sentiment against Shia by inviting Iran to attack its bases in Qatar, Bahrain and Iraq. The fact that Iran carried out this attack without informing the US and that the US agreed to this attack raises doubts as to whether this is part of Trump’s strategy. The question has also been raised whether Ayatollah Khamenei has fallen into the trap set by Trump. Therefore, Iran needed this attack. What the Iranian regime needs is to reassure its citizens that Iran is capable of retaliating against America.
The fact that there was a rally in support of the government in Iran after this attack seems to support this argument.
By the way, Trump can sell weapons again to Israel, which has been depleted of weapons due to this war. The Gulf countries, which are afraid of Iranian missile attacks, can fall to Trump for weapons. From both perspectives, Trump seems to have succeeded. But Netanyahu has completely lost. Since Iran did not start this war and has succeeded in causing massive destruction in Israel, there is no problem for Khamenei or the regime there. Iranian citizens can stand up for this regime even more strongly.
Iran has also given Israel a blow that will make it think a hundred times before attacking it in the future. Israel will remember this blow for a long time.
