‘Israel’s wet dream’

One of the many enduring paradoxes of American democracy is that a businessman-president—soon to return to his real estate empire and million-dollar book deals—can very much bend the world to serve the interests of another state. And not just in defiance of most of his own people’s will, but in betrayal of the no-more-wars promise he made to them.

All because that other state has mastered the art of controlling the purse strings that keep the most powerful people in the most powerful country firmly in office and nicely in line.

So it’s no surprise that Donald Trump has now issued his UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER ultimatum—an effort to bring to life what Israeli journalist Gideon Levy bluntly, and rightly, called Netanyahu’s wet dream. The phrase, crude as it is, couldn’t be more apt. It captures the disturbing reality that war with Iran isn’t some regrettable last resort—it’s a fantasy long incubated in Tel Aviv and eagerly underwritten in Washington.

And now that fantasy is being realised in real time, with all the grotesque theatre that comes with it. Israel pounds Tehran with airstrikes. Iran retaliates. American bombers reposition. Oil spikes.

Traders flinch. Civilians flee. The choreography is familiar because the instinct behind it is rehearsed—manufacture escalation, provoke the backlash, call it existential, then drag the United States into the mess. It isn’t just Netanyahu’s wet dream anymore. It’s becoming a bipartisan one.

There’s barely any dissent. Not in Congress. Not in the media. Certainly not in the donor circuit. If anything, Trump’s language — demanding Iran’s “unconditional surrender,” praising Israel’s “success,” warning of “brutal consequences” — has only set the tone for what comes next. And none of it has anything to do with American interests.

But that’s the point, isn’t it? This was never about American interests. It was always about compliance. About who gets the funding. Who gets the endorsements. Who gets to run again and who doesn’t. Whose secrets will not be spilled. The speed with which Washington closed ranks behind Israel’s offensive — before any American life was even touched — says everything about how deep the rot is entrenched. And how complete the capture now is.

That’s what makes Levy’s comment so cutting. Because this isn’t about defence. It’s about gratification. About delivering the climax of a policy obsession that’s been edging forward for two decades. And like all such fantasies, it demands suspension of reason. The pretext doesn’t have to make sense. The costs don’t have to add up. The global reaction doesn’t even matter. What matters is that Netanyahu gets his war, and American power makes it possible.

The entire policy architecture sustains itself now — donor networks, lobbying operations, security think tanks, revolving-door consultants — all aligned, all funded, all committed to the same outcome. It no longer matters who occupies which office. The machine runs itself. And it always runs in one direction.

Nobody in Washington is asking what this will achieve. They’re only asking how much is too much before the polls start to suffer. The calculus is electoral, not strategic. The war has become a stage, and Trump—the showman—knows exactly how to work the lights. He doesn’t need to care what happens to Iranians, or Israelis, or Palestinians, or oil markets, or civilian infrastructure. As long as the right people applaud, the bombs will keep falling.

And the world will pay for it. In blood, in volatility, in diplomatic collapse. Thousands of Tehranis are already fleeing. Insurance rates in the Gulf are climbing. Global supply chains are bracing. But Washington is too far gone to blink. This is no longer about brinkmanship. It’s about indulgence. And that makes it infinitely more dangerous.

So when Trump talks about backing Israel “all the way,” he’s not signalling resolve. He’s signalling submission—to a foreign policy vision that isn’t even his. One that predates him, that will outlast him, and that’s now so deeply embedded in the political bloodstream that it no longer registers as foreign at all.

The irony, of course, is that none of this is really about only Iran either. Not the rhetoric, not the strikes, not the ultimatums. Iran is just the canvas. The real subject is the unspoken consensus in Washington that no cost is too high, no lie too obvious, and no backlash too severe — so long as the machinery of loyalty keeps running.

That’s what’s playing out now, in all its delusional grandeur. And it’s why Levy’s vulgar metaphor lands so hard. Because it isn’t just about Israel’s fantasy anymore. It’s about America’s complicity in turning that fantasy into policy — no matter who burns.

And with Trump now threatening to go further, and no one in Washington willing to say no, this may only be the beginning. Iran’s response has been brutal — far beyond symbolic retaliation — and has shocked not just the region but Israel itself. Parts of Tel Aviv and Haifa now resemble the very images long used to justify its own excesses in Gaza. For all his theatrics and defiance, even Netanyahu never dared imagine a nightmare this vivid springing from his fantasy.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025