Within Israel\u2019s fractious parliament, support for the country\u2019s wars offers one of the few points of consensus, even if individual politicians disagree on how they are prosecuted.<\/p>\n
Going into the war on Iran, Israel\u2019s former chief of staff and one of the contenders to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Gadi Eisenkot, did not hold back. Speaking during an interview in early March, shortly after the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran began, he described the unprovoked attacks on Tehran as \u201cthe most just war in recent decades against the most bitter enemy\u201d.<\/p>\n
Opposition leader Yair Lapid was equally supportive of the attacks, with his enthusiasm for renewed conflict against Iran and Hezbollah only eclipsed by his anger following Washington\u2019s decision to make a deal with Tehran. He described the US decision as \u201cone of the most shocking failures of Israel\u2019s foreign and security policy, and it is entirely on Netanyahu\u2019s account\u201d.<\/p>\n
Israeli sociologist Daniel Bar-Tal from Tel Aviv University said little of this reaction in Israel is surprising. It was, he said, the outcome of a process across Israeli politics, media, and society that linked the Hamas 2023 attack with the \u201ccentral anchor\u201d of Israeli identity: the Holocaust. In this light, the attack was framed not \u201cmerely as a horrific event in its own right, but as the latest chapter in a much older story of Jewish historical trauma\u201d.<\/p>\n
Bar-Tal added that the \u201cjustness of the national goals, glorification of the Jewish nation, [and] sense of collective victimhood\u201d, as well as \u201cthe delegitimisation of Palestinians\u201d, were ingrained into the consciousness of most Israelis, and therefore played a role in the support behind Israel\u2019s wars.<\/p>\n
Gains and losses\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite almost three years of almost constant and unquestioned war, few people in Israel believe that the country is significantly more secure than it was before October 7.<\/p>\n
In Gaza, Hamas remains in control of large parts of the territory, while in Iran, the regime that Netanyahu is reported to have told his US allies would fall within days of the start of the war, remains steadfast.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no particular achievement that will stop this eternal war,\u201d Israeli analyst and academic Shaiel Ben-Ephraim said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are two main engines behind it,\u201d he said, describing the catalysts for the seemingly endless push for war. One of those engines, he said, was a reflection of Israel\u2019s immediate circumstances, while the other was a reflection of the fundamental shift in the consciousness of Israelis following the October 7 attack.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/reuters_6a3a8e8b-1782222475.jpg\")
A member of a civilian response team looks at the sky as he searches for a hostile drone, in Metula, on the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border [File: Amir Cohen\/Reuters]<\/p>\n