Foreign Policy argued, based on the results of the 12-day war, that the attack on Iran was a “major failure of Netanyahu’s gamble.”
It wrote that Israel, despite all its claims about war, failed to achieve its goals. The 12-day war undermined the old idea that Iran’s government needs final foreign pressure to be overthrown.
Netanyahu began the war with the aim of eliminating what he called Iran’s threat and strategic challenge to Israel. However, instead, it exposed Israel’s vulnerabilities, strengthened the sense of Iranian nationalism, and failed to destroy Iran’s fundamental military and nuclear capabilities.
According to Foreign Policy, the 12 days of war left much ruin in Iran. However, the clearest result of this war is the major failure of Netanyahu’s gamble. Despite Netanyahu’s promise to eliminate Iran’s missile and nuclear program and his hope for regime change, Iran reacted swiftly and fired its missiles towards Israeli cities and strategic targets.
Even after the U.S. stepped into the conflict, Iran, by attacking the Al-Udeid base in Qatar, sent the message that it could extend the scope of the conflict beyond its borders. As a result, the war could ironically even strengthen Iran’s position in the region and from a diplomatic perspective.
According to Foreign Policy, Iran’s attacks were seemingly precise and well-planned. After Israel’s attack on Iran’s oil refinery in South Pars, Iran targeted the Haifa refinery in retaliation.
After Israel attacked Iran’s research centers, Iran retaliated by attacking the Weizmann Institute, which has been suspected of cooperating in Israel’s nuclear research. Iran aimed to demonstrate its capabilities through this calculated response. It was exactly after these counterattacks that the attacks on energy infrastructure were stopped.
By hitting residential buildings, media outlets, prisons, and police stations, Israel appeared to be pursuing a broader strategy aimed at creating chaos and igniting domestic unrest. With the deaths of children, physicians, and ordinary people as a result of Israel’s indiscriminate attacks, the image was strengthened inside Iran that the attacks were not intended to promote freedom, but rather to fragment the country.
Israel’s war had many political and social implications for Iran. It created a wave of unity that increased nationalism, instead of dismantling the regime, as people rallied around the idea of defending the country against foreign invasion. Many members of Iran’s Generation Z mobilized in support of the nation.
