Bibi Netanyahu attempted to cajole Trump into another massive attack on Iran. For all intents and purposes we’ll call it Hormuz 2.0. It was to be even more audacious in scope than Hormuz 1.0, and would have been just as disastrous:
Netanyahu pushed to resume large-scale strikes against Iran and…instructed his military to plan for a major new offensive earlier this month, moves that risk plunging the region back into full-scale war. The Israeli military had prepared for a multi-day bombing campaign to take place on the weekend of October 10 that would have targeted civilian infrastructure such as electricity plants, as well as nuclear facilities and regime targets…
Trump offers great bravado about his complete victory in Iran. But he must have some faint idea of how great a failure it has been. He must also realize his poll numbers are abysmal and the Republicans face a bloodbath in two weeks. There are very few things Trump gets right. But in turning down Netanyahu’s pitch, he staved off an even greater disaster. He still will lose the House and perhaps the Senate. But a renewed war is something he definitely does not need.
Doing so four weeks before an election would have had just the opposite effect here in the US from what it would for the Israeli PM’s electoral prospects. Historically, there has never been a war that hasn’t boosted the prospects of an Israeli leader. Netanyahu was banking on that to seal a sixth election victory. He may win or he may lose, But he will not get his war to boost his chances.
Trump not only told him he wouldn’t join in the plan, he told Netanyahu to stand down. There will be no Israeli attack before election day. Though there may be one after:
…One of the people familiar with the matter said it was “not an unreasonable scenario” that Israel and Washington would restart strikes in the coming weeks.“There will either be a deal or an attack,” the person said, suggesting the American goal was to force Iran to agree terms with the US as part of a deal over the Strait of Hormuz and Tehran’s nuclear programme that would fully end the war.
Whoever the source is clearly hasn’t yet learned the lesson of of Hormuz 1.0, and the drubbing that the US took. No one can “force” Iran to agree to anything, especially when holding such a weak hand. It isn’t clear whether this was mere Trump bravado or whether he really reflects Trump’s intent. If the latter, we may be in for yet another wild ride.
One thing is clear: Iran is not without means to upset the US’ best-laid plans. Also, its military strategy, given the paucity of its capabilities, has been inventive and resilient. Undoubtedly, it is refining its tactics to maximize the cost to Israel and the US (but especially the latter).
Netanyahu vehemently denied Trump reined him in. The former has a sort of political machismo. No one gets to make him look weak. He will always fight back with a sneer on his face. Obsessive about his image, he tried to turn public attention away from this story, to reestablish own narrative. He offered one of his many lies at a speech the day after that Financial Times report, claiming Iran was making a “weapon of death” and intended to drop it on Israel:
“Mojtaba [Khamenei] has pulled the pin, and Iran is once again trying to develop its weapons of death. As long as they seek to acquire such a terrible weapon, the State of Israel faces an existential threat, and our duty is to save the nation.”
This of course is not just wrong and a lie, it wild hysteria. Saving the nation is a claim that resonates in Israel, a national security state based on a perpetual war mentality. Security is the number one issue. Bibi, who proclaims Churchill one of his idols, fancies himself Mr. Security, the ultimate wartime leader.
Israel pays Trump consultant $45-million to repair Israel’s damaged image in US
Netanyahu has not confined himself to reigniting a Middle East war. He has even grander plans to bolster Israeli influence in Washington DC with messaging that promotes its favored MAGA candidates. Not content with its Lobby shoveling hundreds of millions into Congressional and Senate races, it is taking to the airwaves and social media with a $15-million blitz directed by Trump’s former digital guru, Brad Parscale. He was given $46-million in spending money by the Israeli government. This was part of a $750-million budget allocation for promoting Israel’s battered foreign image.
This is Israel intervening in US elections. It is illegal for foreign donors to give to US political candidates. But apparently meddlesome foreign countries with an appetite for wreaking havoc, are free to do their worst.
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@buckleycarlson @parscale @leahfiles And clock tower, Brad parscale, is running Israeli propaganda ads in Iowa, paid for by the taxpayer. https://t.co/HBMwN2EPcz
— emaroe1116 (@emaroe1116) October 16, 2026
One of its early efforts is a campaign in Iowa with a video, “Why Does Israel Matter to America.” It features footage from the ill-fated America 250 Trumpaganza with a Blue Angel flyover the White House:
“Why does Israel matter to America?” the video says. “Because the values that built our country are worth defending: freedom, democracy, individual rights, religious liberty. Israel shares those principles through free elections, free speech, and the right to worship. Its citizens can protest and hold their leaders accountable. Israel is not perfect; no democracy is. But in a region where adversaries reject those values, Israel stands with America.”
None of the characterizations of Israel are true. It upholds none of the so-called “principles” the video claims. The only true statement is that Israel “is not perfect” (an understatement).
The ad links to a hitherto unknown website Stand Together for Truth, sponsored by Parscale’s Clocktower X. It is dedicated to pro-Israel hasbara talking points, with a little bit of anti-Semitism fearmongering thrown in for good measure. Its “resource library” features 225 items including 50 videos full of pro-Israel content. One of them titled, “Why it’s our patriotic duty to support.” Subtlety is not its strong suit. This is what $15-million will buy you.
It’s strange to mount this media campaign in the Corn Belt. Though there are some competitive races there, it is a bright red state. If the target audience was evangelical Christians, I suppose there is some logic to it. Or this is a proof of concept media foray to test its impact.
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In response to criticism leveled in US media, the Israeli foreign ministry offered this feeble response: “We hide nothing and we obfuscate nothing. We certainly do not interfere in any foreign or domestic policy.”
As with most Israeli official statements, the precise opposite is the case. Israel does its best to hide its fingerprints from all its efforts; which certainly does interfere in US domestic affairs. In fact, this is one of the most blatant attempts to, if not buy an election, then at least to put its thumb on the scale in favor of its chosen candidates, and reinforce pro-Israel messaging. The only other country which has attempted to do something similar is Russia in the 2020 presidential election. But its effort was amateurish compared to Israel’s.
Last week, a cyber-security research group exposed an Israeli spying campaign employing zero-click spyware embedded in digital ads. The product was devised by the Israeli company, Candiru. The ads were placed by an Israeli digital marketing company 0n hundreds of thousands of computers targeting global media outlets, military, intelligence, and finance agencies. Among them, the Pentagon, Al Jazeera and the ICC. Israel is the quintessential surveillance state, with other repressive regimes clamoring to buy its products.
It is one of the few countries in the world that feels no compunction about sabotaging the internal domestic politics of foreign countries, whether they be Arab enemies or allies like the US. These nations are so unaccustomed to such meddling that they often don’t have guardrails in place that would regulate or mitigate such damage. That’s why the Israel Lobby has been able to play such a massive role in US politics. Only recently has it overplayed its hand in defense of Israel’s war in Gaza, so that it has been chastened.
This week it announced it would cease endorsing and directly funding candidates. However, the kicker is that it will hand off the job to its two Super PACs, United Democracy Project and Democratic Majority for Israel. They will be Aipac-substitutes and do everything that Aipac did, except more surreptitiously, since they do not have to reveal donor identities. This is the opposite of “hiding nothing and obfuscating nothing.” In fact, this is precisely the way Israel operates.
In a related field, US intelligence has appraised the level of espionage of various foreign nations inside the US. After Russia and China, Israel was the third most-engaged country in such spying. The Department of Defense raised the latter’s threat level to “critical.” Of course, it wants to know what policy approach US administrations are going to adopt regarding the Middle East; and it wants to know everything possible about US military strategy, including weapons development. Though it may not need to do this if Congress passes a misguided bill to integrate the US and Israel in a military alliance that would involve sharing such information. Nevertheless, it is strange that Israel’s engages in such intrusive espionage against is most important ally.
One of the most critical such adventures was the theft of US enriched uranium by a team led by the future Hollywood film mogul, Arnon Milchan. It is part of long history of such operations. In this case, it was a crucial factor in Israel building a nuclear weapon. It doesn’t appear to have angered US presidents enough for them to actually do anything about this flagrant violation of US sovereignty. This wink-and-a-nod approach has in fact led to the current disastrous situation, in which Netanyahu can boast that he’s not worried about the US because he has it wrapped around his little finger.
He has played Trump like a fiddle and got him into the disastrous Iran war, while the US president also armed him to the teeth to pursue a genocide in Gaza. The president’s refusal to go along with a new attack is only temporary. Netanyahu is nothing if not persistent.
Israeli meddling in our politics and foreign policy has been catastrophic and there is no end in sight. Unless we act decisively: end all US aid to Israel, force Aipac to register as an agent of a foreign power, sanction every Israeli officer and civilian leader charged by the ICC, end the Gaza genocide, demand it withdraw from Syria, Lebanon and Gaza, and recognize a Palestinian state.
Will we ever wise up and realize we’re being swindled, played and plundered by one of the most brazen nations on earth?
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