The emperor’s old-new clothes
Eight months ago, we were told that Israel had obliterated Iran’s nuclear capabilities in a feat of biblical proportions.
Six weeks ago we were told that Iran’s uranium and ballistic missiles were again an existential threat that had to be dealt with immediately and that military force would cause the battered and exhausted Iranian people to rise up and overthrow their leaders, despite that never happening at any time in recorded history and all respected experts saying that it was likely to have the opposite effect.
Our lives were put on hold, some people lost their lives or their homes, events were canceled, education was disrupted, people were stuck abroad for weeks, and no one slept through the night for a month and a half.
Today, the enriched uranium is all still there, according to experts, just better hidden in a variety of locations. The missile launchers are obviously still functional and have ammunition, as we all experienced firsthand. The Iranian regime is still in place, wounded for sure, but also empowered by the knowledge that it can paralyze the world economy at any time by shutting down the Strait of Hormuz, and with a deep distrust of the United States, which has discarded a treaty and bombed the country twice during negotiations.
The regime has undoubtedly taken note of which dictatorial regimes aren’t being attacked – hint, it’s ones like North Korea and Russia that have nuclear weapons. Oh, and we killed the Iranian leader who was religiously opposed to developing nuclear weapons. The ones who replaced him don’t seem to have the same moral qualms.
Hezbollah, which we supposedly destroyed in 2024, still has the capacity to make northern Israel unlivable, and we are heading toward another occupation of southern Lebanon. People seem to have forgotten that we tried that for almost 20 years in the 80s and 90s. It led to soldiers dying almost daily for over a decade and not only failed to resolve the problems in Lebanon but exacerbated them. Most of the voters today don’t remember those times or weren’t born yet, and why bother learning history when you can just repeat shallow slogans about absolute victory?
Israel is also doing everything possible to undermine a moderate Lebanese government that wants Hezbollah out and refusing any kind of serious diplomatic process that could lead to a long-term peace like with Egypt and Jordan, because doing so would involve deep thinking, consultation with and involvement of experts (from various disciplines and opinions), long-term strategy, and compromise, all of which are completely out of the scope of the current Israeli government.
I won’t even get into what this has done to public opinion about Israel in the US, among Democrats for sure, but also among young Republicans.
And now, this morning, poof!!! We’re supposed to forget the last six weeks and go back to our lives (except for the north, which is still under fire). Kids who haven’t opened a book for a month and a half and were running to bomb shelters less than 48 hours ago are supposed to go to school with no emotional or academic preparation whatsoever.
We’re all supposed to smile, be resilient and patriotic, and not ask questions. We’re supposed to ignore the budget that slashed education, health, and transportation to fund our endless wars, but poured billions into sectarian demands that are completely untenable in the long term and are literally destroying the country from within.
And that’s how things will be until our leaders are in another political bind or are swept away by delusions of grandeur, and our lives and safety are again thrown to the wind. Can we make plans for the summer or the holidays? How long will it be this time? Eight months? Less?
What terrifies me is that most people in Israel seem to accept this. It’s like the real-life version of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” on repeat, and whenever the kid speaks out, the emperor’s goonies call him an unpatriotic traitor and everyone else carries on as if this is normal…
