Benjamin Netanyahu is in full wartime mode, proclaiming “tremendous victory” over Iran while simultaneously justifying intensifying Israeli attacks, including those hitting civilian hospitals. Netanyahu’s blend of victimhood and vengeance has never felt more globally consequential, nor more cynically choreographed. After an Iranian missile strike hit an Israeli hospital, the Israeli response has been a rapid, relentless escalation—Netanyahu vowing revenge and “a heavy price” in public and behind closed doors.
The prime minister has made clear his intention to expand the scope of Israeli military action, including open threats against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, insisting “no one in Iran, including Khamenei, is immune.” As Israeli strikes rain down on Iranian and Gaza targets alike, Netanyahu has positioned himself as both architect and executor of a war with no clear end, rhetorically divorcing the campaign from any credible vision of de-escalation.
International law and the so-called rules-based order, never exactly Netanyahu’s favorite talking points, are now in open retreat. Commentators note that the Israel-Iran conflict “drives the final nail in the coffin” of the postwar settlement, as strikes on hospitals and threats of nuclear escalation upend every vestige of restraint once associated with great power conduct. Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s inner circle are now speaking openly about the possibility—not the goal, but certainly the “result”—of regime change in Tehran.
In a moment of almost comic self-pity, Netanyahu lamented to Israelis that the war has forced him to postpone his son’s wedding—a gesture that has triggered domestic backlash for its tone-deafness, even by the low standards of contemporary Israeli politics.
The international response is one of mounting horror. The Guardian’s editorial board warns that “Netanyahu’s war has no visible exit,” echoing fears that the conflict now outpaces even the most dystopian forecasts for Middle Eastern stability. Trump’s own vocal support for Israel has only emboldened Netanyahu, who appears more determined than ever to turn Israel’s military might into a personal legacy project.
Satirically speaking, the Israeli prime minister has achieved what no Middle Eastern strongman has managed in decades: making international law seem quaint, multilateralism irrelevant, and restraint a thing of the past. As the missiles fly, hospitals burn, and “tremendous victory” is redefined to mean whatever Netanyahu wants, the world is left to watch—powerless, and not even remotely surprised.