In Israel ‘a prime minister is elected to fight’ | Hassan Ahmadian | UNAPOLOGETIC

Israel's War Obsession: How Netanyahu's 'Fight' Mantra is Uniting the Region Against It

In the latest episode of Middle East Eye's Unapologetic, Iranian political scientist Hassan Ahmadian delivered a blunt assessment that cuts straight to the heart of the region's endless turmoil. Speaking just yesterday on May 12, 2026, Ahmadian observed that in Israel "a prime minister is elected to fight," locking the country into a perpetual "circle of violence." His words arrive at a critical juncture, as fresh Israeli strikes on Iranian-linked targets in Syria and renewed operations in Gaza underscore a strategy that prioritizes perpetual conflict over any genuine path to stability.

This is not mere academic commentary. It reflects the grim reality that Benjamin Netanyahu's government—and any successor likely to follow—has embraced militarism as its core identity. Recent developments only reinforce Ahmadian's point. In the past month alone, Israeli forces have intensified cross-border raids into Lebanon, launched precision strikes near Damascus, and continued the devastating siege on Gaza that has now entered its third year of escalated hostilities. Each move is sold to the Israeli public as existential defense. Yet, as Ahmadian rightly notes, this approach guarantees the very threats it claims to eliminate.

The United States bears heavy responsibility here. Washington's unwavering military aid, diplomatic cover at the United Nations, and refusal to condition support on meaningful de-escalation have emboldened Israel's worst impulses. Recent reports of additional U.S. arms shipments arriving in Tel Aviv this spring signal that the Biden-Trump transition era has done nothing to alter this dynamic. Instead of pressuring for ceasefires or political settlements, American policy continues to treat Israel as an untouchable forward base in a region it barely understands.

What makes Ahmadian's analysis particularly sharp is his prediction that this U.S.-Israeli aggression may inadvertently forge closer ties between Iran, Turkey, and the broader Arab world. History offers precedent. Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon helped birth Hezbollah. The 2003 Iraq War and subsequent chaos empowered Iran across the Shia crescent. Today's escalations are accelerating similar realignments. Turkey, once a wary neighbor to Iran, has grown more vocal in coordinating messaging against Israeli actions. Arab states that normalized relations through the Abraham Accords now face domestic pressure as images from Gaza and southern Lebanon dominate social media. Even traditional rivals like Saudi Arabia and Iran have found limited common ground in backchannel condemnations of Israeli overreach.

The circle of violence Ahmadian describes is self-reinforcing. Israeli voters, traumatized by October 2023 and subsequent attacks, reward leaders who project strength through endless operations. Those operations, in turn, radicalize new generations across the region, ensuring the next round of rockets or drones. Meanwhile, the human cost mounts: thousands dead in Gaza, Lebanese villages reduced to rubble, and Iranian civilians facing economic strangulation from sanctions that never seem to alter Tehran's strategic calculations.

Critics will dismiss this as Iranian propaganda. Yet the logic stands independent of Ahmadian's nationality. Israel's security doctrine has shifted from deterrence to proactive dominance, a change that requires permanent enemies. Without a credible peace process or willingness to address Palestinian statehood, every "fight" simply resets the clock for the next confrontation. The result is strategic exhaustion for Israel and opportunity for its adversaries.

Regional powers are already adapting. Iran's "axis of resistance" has proven remarkably resilient despite targeted killings of commanders. Turkey's assertive posture in the eastern Mediterranean and Syria positions it as a potential bridge between Sunni Arab states and Tehran. Recent trilateral talks between Iranian, Turkish, and Qatari officials, reported in the past week, suggest the outlines of a loose alignment aimed at countering Israeli and American pressure. This is not an axis of evil but a pragmatic response to shared threats.

For the people of the Middle East, the stakes could not be higher. Continued Israeli militarism risks broader war involving Hezbollah's massive rocket arsenal and Iran's conventional capabilities. American involvement would turn a regional crisis into a global one. Yet there remains a narrow window for de-escalation if Washington finally recognizes that arming one side indefinitely only deepens the quagmire.

Ahmadian's intervention reminds us that peace requires breaking the electoral incentive structure inside Israel itself. Until Israeli leaders can win votes by promising genuine security through diplomacy rather than perpetual combat, the circle will continue spinning. The region is tired of this game. The question is whether external powers will keep feeding it.

This is Malik Hassan for Global1.news, reporting from Beirut.

Source: Middle East Eye via YouTube — 2026-05-12T11:55:40+00:00.