Calmly and Steadily... Israel is Collapsing from Within

To many, Israel may appear victorious, a dominant power de facto in the Middle East. It is fighting wars on multiple fronts simultaneously and delivering deadly blows to its enemies. At the same time, it still enjoys broad support from Western powers and popular bases, especially from leaders facing real challenges from the far right in their countries.

Beneath this surface, Israel is collapsing internally. There is an international alliance led by the United States, with the participation of Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, gradually working to remove Gaza from Israeli control, while also pressuring Israel to retreat from its expansionist adventures in both Syria and Lebanon.

The Israeli government publicly opposes this path, but it seems to be with the implicit consent of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who now realizes that the threat of war serves him more than the war itself.

This realization came after his failure to achieve his declared "war objectives," which were to eliminate Hamas and return the prisoners alive.

It is difficult for Western leaders to admit that Israel has become a factor of regional chaos. Therefore, the easier strategy is to gradually and quietly withdraw their tools and make Israel adapt to the emerging reality without forcing its leaders to publicly submit.

The unconditional support Israel once enjoyed from the United States and Europe is declining, as is cooperation with Gulf countries. For decades, Palestinians—like the Muslim Brotherhood—were seen as a greater threat to regional stability than Israel.

Where Western leaders once raced to condemn Hamas and praise "Israel's defense of Western values," those same leaders are now increasingly silent amid the continuous flow of evidence of Israeli genocide in Gaza. Even former U.S. President Donald Trump has become less vocal about Hamas than before.

It is difficult for Western leaders to admit that Israel has become a factor of regional chaos. Thus, the easier strategy is to gradually and quietly withdraw their tools and make Israel adapt to the emerging reality without forcing its leaders to publicly submit. There is no need to confront it directly; it is enough to respond coldly from time to time or to leave it waiting.

Despite its public claims to the contrary, Israel needs international cooperation to carry out attacks in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iran. For this reason, its military operations are gradually shrinking. It is no longer preoccupied with strategic expansion but is pursuing individuals who previously participated in operations against Israelis. These are Israel's capabilities in the new regional system.

Diplomatically, Israel may also be the losing party. Hamas is negotiating, while the Israeli government is procrastinating. If this situation continues, Israel will face a reality it did not shape. Today, for example, ideas are being raised that Israelis should bear the cost of removing the rubble left by their army during more than two years of the genocide campaign it waged on Gaza.

While Israel approaches losing its status as a dominant power in the region, Israeli society is expending its major energy on internal conflicts about the "spirit of Israel" and deepening its illegal occupation of Palestinian territories. Israelis are losing faith in the existence of a world beyond their state's borders. If such a world exists, they believe it hates Israel intensely regardless of its actions.

Israeli discourse is increasingly centered on issues ranging from "threats against Jews" to what is known as the "collective Israeli whole," abandoning the geopolitical discussions that were common even six months ago. There is also widespread disregard for global reality and international public opinion.

Take, for example, the new scandal involving the Israeli Air Force. Future pilots, who were about to graduate after two years of training, underwent an experience known as "prison simulation" lasting a week, considered one of the toughest training stages. Afterwards, they were sent to a hotel in a secret location to rest.

However, those pilots revealed the hotel's location to their families who visited them over the weekend; some of them drank alcohol. Their commanding officer even allowed it.

These pilots will all face disciplinary actions. Air Force Commander Tomer Bar stated: "There will be no leniency regarding values, which are the foundation of the Air Force's ethics."

This is collapse itself. The Israeli Air Force is responsible for most of the destruction in Gaza, including bombing civilian homes and infrastructure, which terrified the world and stripped the Israeli army of its claim to be "the most ethical in the world." Yet, this force still talks about "values" and "ethics." The pilots are the main arm in the genocide war, but what matters is their drinking alcohol without permission.

The media portrayed these pilots, along with the general pilot corps, as representing the "old Israeli elite," morally corrupt, lost, and privileged compared to the new elites who burned Gaza and died defending the "people of Israel."

In contrast, the pilots quickly declared their loyalty as a group to the government and Israeli state security, affirming their commitment to continue the genocide war as long as the "democratically elected" government—which they themselves had protested against repeatedly—orders them to do so.

Perhaps most dangerously, Israel is losing its internal cohesion. Unvaccinated children are dying from measles and influenza, gangs of teenagers are assaulting Palestinians working in street cleaning or bus driving, Palestinian citizens inside Israel are killed in clashes between criminal gangs, and veterans who participated in the "Gaza war" are committing suicide in unprecedented numbers.

The public mental health system has collapsed under pressure, with appointments scheduled after more than a year. Official school classes are canceled daily because teachers are busy caring for their children who themselves have been left without teachers.

In the Ministry of Education, 25 senior educational officials resigned during Netanyahu's current government term, most citing political interference in their work. In Tel Aviv, municipal employees were encouraged to volunteer once a week in kindergartens and nurseries due to a lack of qualified staff.

There is also a shortage of judges because the Minister of Justice does not speak to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and judicial appointments require approval from both. Two ministers in the government hold nine ministerial portfolios simultaneously after the ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties (Haredim) left the coalition and conditioned their return on abandoning the mandatory military service law for the Haredim.

The Israeli state is rapidly turning into a hollow shell. Its institutions are collapsing, public employees are leaving, and only political insiders remain to fill the gaps. The Israel that is forming now is doomed to institutional, financial, and cultural poverty—or complete internal collapse.