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When the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu convinced the U.S. President Trump to embark on a miscalculated adventure in Iran, pro-Israeli propagandists were euphoric.
For years, they hoped to see a joint American-Israeli military operation against Iran. Within their euphoria, the propaganda was short, easy, and clear: "Türkiye is next."
However, months later, their dreams turned into ashes with Trump reaching a rather balanced or even advantageous deal for Iran.
In short, Israel failed to achieve its war goals against Iran, whether in Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, or Iran itself. The Iranian regime stands, Hezbollah stands, Iran-backed Shia militias in Iraq stand, and the Houthis stand as well.
To further complicate the picture for Israel, it also failed to form an anti-Iranian alliance with the Gulf states. Upon all these failures, Israel also damaged its relationship with the U.S. and the Trump administration.
Since Oct. 7, the Israeli leadership believed that it had a golden opportunity to achieve long-term geopolitical goals. Netanyahu repeatedly expressed that he wants to establish Israeli hegemony in the Middle East.
At that time, many experts and analysts like me argued that this unrealistic Israeli ambition was a strategic mistake. As we see now, the Israeli failures have reached a peak with the recent Iran-U.S. deal. Israel was sidelined in the negotiations, and Trump publicly undermined the Israeli leadership.
However, the Israeli shortcomings are not limited to Iran and the recent deal.
Israel also failed to disband Hamas or force Palestinians out of Gaza. The Israeli leadership failed to galvanize the international community against the new Syrian government and its policy of "alliance of minorities."
It failed miserably in Syria when the Syrian government crushed the YPG-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). And now, even in the Druze file where Israel had very strong cards, we see signs of the Israeli strategy crumbling.
In my previous column for Türkiye Today, I argued that the Israeli hegemonic ambitions are doomed to fail and stated that the Israeli ambition by itself is Israel’s Achilles heel. And this will continue to be the case if the Turkish government doesn’t make the same mistake as Israel and tries to become the hegemon.
By putting Türkiye on the target, pro-Israeli propagandists created a rival for Israel and facilitated strong Turkish-Arab relations and a growing Turkish role in the Middle East.
If Israel hadn’t had hegemonic ambitions, it would not have collided with Türkiye. And the more Israel tries to become the hegemon, Türkiye’s role in the Middle East will grow.
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