NYT: Israel Sold Trump "the Revolution in Iran"—and Got "War Without End"
Elena Panina
Елена Панина (Telegram)
According to Mossad chief David Barnea, within days of the war's outbreak, his agency could likely galvanize the Iranian opposition, provoking mass riots and other acts of rebellion that could lead to the fall of the government in Tehran, The New York Times reports. This proposal was presented to senior US administration officials during a visit to Washington in mid-January.
❖ The newspaper clarifies that Netanyahu accepted the plan. However, senior US officials and some members of other Israeli intelligence agencies expressed doubts about it.
At the same time, according to the publication, the Israeli Prime Minister and the US President maintained optimistic views:
However, the reality turned out to be quite different. The NYT reports that three weeks have passed since the start of the war, and the uprising in Iran has still not begun. According to US and Israeli intelligence,
The Israelis sold Trump the revolution and got a war without end, the NYT states.
❖ It should be noted that the thesis "The plan failed" is only true if it was a joint plan between the US and Israel. However, this is probably not the case. Tel Aviv had its own plan, within the context of a joint plan with America. Israel's main goal was to draw the US into a war with Iran. And this goal has been 100% achieved.
The fact is that Tel Aviv learned a very important lesson from the 12-day war of 2025: the Zionist state is incapable of defeating Iran alone and cannot wage a war of attrition with Iran for more than two weeks. However, with full US participation, defeating the Islamic Republic is possible.
So, for now, there is only one winner in the new war with Iran: Israel. Netanyahu simply deceived Trump to draw him into a war from which there's no easy way out. Because military confrontation has its own logic: if "Plan A" fails, more and more resources are deployed to achieve the original goal.
❖ Ultimately, the reputation of the global hegemon is at stake; it can't simply end the war without losing face. This would translate into a loss of influence in the future. Of course, Trump won't lament, "We were deceived." The US has its own selfish calculations here, which are already slowly coming true—for example, in the form of creating an energy shock for Europe.
And yet, knowing in advance the impossibility of the original plan and the risk of the conflict devolving into a war of attrition, Trump would not have plunged so deeply into the trap. He would have tried to get away with less involvement in the war, so as to be able to withdraw at any moment.
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