By Iqbal Jassat
The Israeli government’s attempt to market its war against Iran as a strategic success is colliding with a reality it can no longer control.
A new poll conducted by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Agam Institute reveals a profound disconnect between official claims and public perception.
Far from embracing war criminal Netanyahu’s declarations of victory, a significant majority of Israelis clearly believe the opposite.
The figures are striking adding to the woes of the settler colonial regime and its fanatical support base, including in South Africa.
According to the survey of 3,644 participants, 92.1% believe Iran emerged as the winner of the conflict. A further 82.9% believe the war has weakened Israel’s long term security. More than half, 56.4%, rated Netanyahu’s handling of the war as poor or a failure, while 72.5% rejected claims that Israel had achieved significant gains or eliminated what officials repeatedly described as an existential threat.
The findings reveal more than the abject failure of its multi billion Hasbara (propaganda) campaigns, it exposes a humiliating widening credibility gap between political leadership and public opinion.
For months, Israeli officials, supported by sympathetic media outlets, Zionist funded NGOs parading as “think tanks” and a network of Western political allies, projected an image of military success.
Headlines focused on tactical achievements, targeted strikes and claims of restored deterrence. Absent from much of this coverage was a more fundamental question: did the Zionist apartheid regime’s unprovoked war on the Islamic Republic of Iran actually make the colonial project safer?
The poll suggests that large sections of the Israeli public have already answered that question.
What is conveniently omitted from official narratives is the strategic cost of escalation. The conflict exposed vulnerabilities within Israel’s security architecture, disrupted economic activity, generated domestic uncertainty and heightened fears of a broader regional confrontation. These realities cannot be concealed indefinitely through carefully managed messaging campaigns.
The beneficiaries of the false “victory” narrative extend beyond the Netanyahu regime’s gang of baby killers and war criminals.
Media institutions, security establishments and political networks invested in maintaining an image of Israeli military dominance all have a stake in preserving the perception of success.
Public acknowledgement of failure would raise uncomfortable questions about the decisions that led to the war and the assumptions that justified it.
It is a pattern we are familiar with having fresh memories of hate-filled unjust wars, invasions and occupation of a range of Muslim countries across West Asia and Africa.
From Iraq to Afghanistan, governments have repeatedly declared success while public confidence steadily eroded.
Official narratives emphasised tactical achievements while strategic realities told a different story. Military power was presented as proof of effectiveness even as long term objectives remained unmet but at huge cost to millions of people displaced and mercilessly butchered.
We therefore ought not be surprised that the same logic appears to be unfolding once again.
The significance of this poll lies not merely in Netanyahu’s declining popularity. Political fortunes rise and fall. What matters is the apparent collapse of public confidence in the official narrative itself.
When more than nine out of ten respondents believe the opposing side emerged stronger, claims of strategic victory become increasingly difficult to sustain.
To the dismay of the regime and its “friends”, the gap between propaganda and reality has narrowed.
The evidence speaks for itself even though agents of Hasbara foolishly seek to frame it differently.
Iqbal Jassat
Executive Member
Media Review Network