War criminal Benjamin Netanyahu can pretend all he wants, but raging war campaigns, from Gaza to Iran, are no metrics for victory at home. It reflects in dwindling public trust in his leadership, evidenced by forthcoming polling that shows Netanyahu doesn’t cross the 50% threshold of partial or complete public trust. An intensified corruption trial in "Israel" adds to his complex domestic hurdles, which are unlikely to be assuaged by defiant rhetoric from US President Donald Trump, who called on the world to glorify Netanyahu for his contributions to regional terrorism.

But beneath all the fanfare and acting of completing so-called “war goals” in Iran lies a deep-seated weakness to wield effective power in "Israel". His fragile and deeply divided government survived a critical attempt to sink "Israel’s" parliament in the lead-up to the absolutely condemnable Israeli strikes on Iranian soil. Netanyahu’s genocide in Gaza was also a reflection of the Israeli occupation’s failure to muster its so-called defenses against the legitimate resistance, underlining a telling pattern of waging war and regional terrorism when the war criminal is most vulnerable.

Here is why that vulnerability won’t fade anytime soon, underlining a dearth of options for the war criminal to bail himself out from the domestic heat.

Begin with the state of public anger in "Israel" as reckless warfare spreads front and center in the region. The public is aware that Netanyahu has routinely changed the goalposts on so-called “war goals” in Gaza: from securing hostages to challenging the strength of Hamas. The type of “total victory” sought by Netanyahu hasn’t materialized yet, given his scramble to buy time and regular public demonstrations to keep his government under pressure.

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Netanyahu’s tense gamble on ultra-Orthodox Jews and the conscription issue could also resurface to his detriment, and growing international pressure on "Israel’s" genocidal conduct, in the lead-up to the Iran strikes, suggests a desperation to divert attention. This is internal weakness masquerading as regional domination. Iran’s lethal missile attacks on Israeli cities, wide-ranging damage to key infrastructure, penetration into Israeli security apparatus, and ability to outmaneuver some of the Iron Dome’s so-called impregnable defenses, drive Netanyahu and "Israel’s" sense of defiance to the ground.

These consequences can easily prepare the ground for Netanyahu’s internal weakening. First, his hard-line allies could view Israeli defense penetration as a key shortcoming of the war criminal, divorcing his hard-line “victory” rhetoric from "Israel’s" brazen capitulation at the hands of Iranian counter-attacks. Second, Iran’s right to its self-defense, driven by "Israel’s" penchant to step-up illegal attacks against the Islamic state, will not be taken for granted, as recent developments have shown. This puts new limits on "Israel’s" ability to wage more terrorism against the assumption that the occupation will face no consequences. Iran’s knee-deep penetration into Israeli occupation heartlands has exacted a critical price on "Israel" and shown that proponents of waging a multifront war ultimately incur the costs they claim to avoid in public. “The military operations of our powerful Armed Forces to punish "Israel" for its aggression continued until the very last minute, at 4am,” remarked Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi in a post on X. “Together with all Iranians, I thank our brave Armed Forces who remain ready to defend our dear country until their last drop of blood, and who responded to any attack by the enemy until the very last minute,” he added.

The Israeli economy has also incurred significant losses and disruptions over prolonged spells of war initiated by Netanyahu. Occupation investors, and those benefitting from the bloodshed of innocent Muslims, could easily witness more panic. The costs are there for all to see: scores of locals view occupation life with disdain, and evidence has shown that the Israeli economy grew at less than one percent last year, as a result of Netanyahu’s genocidal atrocities and regional terrorism. The economic dimension to his vociferous warfare campaigning serves as a pressure point with the potential to add to public discontent, which has been a key factor in fueling government protests against a figure known to toy with "Israel’s" elections and sham democracy.

Cheerleaders of Netanyahu’s war-time aggression have been warned: the so-called rapport between US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu is far from ironclad. For instance, Trump has shown signs, before US-backed terrorism against Iran, that he can sidestep "Israel’s" importance by prioritizing visits to other Middle Eastern countries. Also, despite a contentious course to diplomacy with Iran, it is a fact that dialogue held glimmers despite Netanyahu’s anger and insecurities over it.

In the context of Netanyahu’s political survival, this means something significant: the assumption that the Israeli leader can bank on Washington to prop-up contingency support at home will not necessarily pay off. Look to the Biden administration, when striking reservations between Washington and Netanyahu were used by the latter to place his favourable bets on Trump. But now as Trump’s transactionalism goes hand in hand with his condemnable support for Israeli atrocities and terror campaigning, does Netanyahu have the same confidence in bailing out from domestic protest by banking on Washington?

Ground realities suggest Netanyahu is not the centerpiece of US attraction to the Israeli occupation, and thus, can cultivate a fantasy of triumph and invincibility all he wants.