The three threats What are threats which Israel faces? There are three: regional domestic and relations with its Western allies, especially the United States. Even though, these threats appear external in nature, they really emanate from and are exacerbated by the far-right turn of the Israeli government, namely the current ultra-nationalist "Greater Israel" cabinet headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
First, as a result of two attacks on Iran, one in June 2025, and another this past February, conducted by the United States and Israel but actively encouraged by Netanyahu, Iran is a greater threat than it was before the two attacks. Most analysts now feel that the attacks, especially because they occurred during ongoing negotiations between Iran and the United States, Iran will now intensify its efforts to develop nuclear weapons.
Because bombing has demonstrated that it cannot end Iran's nuclear weapons program, and neither the United States or Israel are willing to use ground troops to extract Iran's enriched uranium, the only way to control its nuclear program is through diplomacy. However, Iran cannot be trusted to negotiate in good faith. If it did agree to outside inspections, it would impose onerous terms on the United States to agree. current regime has alienated Israel from most countries in the world.
The attacks on Iran have initiated a new war in Lebanon with Hizballah, Iran's proxy militia. Hizballah began new attacks on Israel after the February attack. As Israel's occupation of Lebanon from 1982 to 2000 demonstrates, when it withdrew after experiencing high casualties, it is not possible to completely defeat Hizballah. Instead, Israel finds itself bogged down in south Lebanon, a mountainous region while Hizballah continues to fire missiles at its northern towns and farms.
Not only has Israel's invasion of Lebanon, which has also resulted in multiple attacks on sections of Beirut where Hizballah commanders are said to be headquartered, but it has displaced large numbers of Lebanese in the south. Its scorched earth policies in south Lebanon, where entire villages have been demolished, many of which are inhabited by Shi'a but many also by Christians, has caused an international outcry. Obviously, the homes and property of many Lebanese who have nothing to do with Hizballah are losing their livelihoods and sometimes even being wounded or killed during clashes between Hizballah and the IDF.
Israel's campaign against Hizballah has taken a toll on Israel's economy because so many reservists have been pulled from their jobs to serve in the army. There is little doubt that, if the Lebanon campaign, continues for a lengthy period, it will spur more Israelis to consider emigrating to Europe, the United States or Australia or, more recently, to Germany Cyprus and East Asian countries. Israel's current birthrate is 0.9%, far below the population replacement rate. Israel 2025: A Demographic Crossroads; More than 69,000 Israelis left Israel in 2025, as population reached 10.18 million
The second threat exacerbated by the Netanyahu regime's far-right policies has been his alienation of secular Israelis, while emboldening those on the far-right who seek to create a "Greater Israel." Under the auspices of far-right Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, who has been convicted of terrorist activities in the past, extremist groups on the West Bank have received large numbers of rifles and told that attacks on Palestinian civilians in the West Bank wouldn't result in reprisals by the government. How Israel's Settler Movement is Creating a New Generation of Terrorist Youth
Another problem is the rapid growth of the Haredi population. Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics projects that. the Haredim will constitute 16% of the population currently rising to 24% by 2050 and 50% of the Jewish population by 2059-2065. If we add the growth of settlements in the West Bank which include large numbers of ultra-nationalists who believe that God willed Judea and Samaria (the ancient Israeli title for the West Bank), to the Jews Israel will become a nation-state controlled by the ultra-orthodox and Jewish nationalists.
Haredi men overwhelmingly refuse to serve in the IDF, except in some instances in ancillary, non-combat roles. Efforts to remove their exemption from serving in the military has led to strong condemnation by ultra-orthodox rabbis who feel that serving in the military will "secularize" them. Haredim have organized large scale demonstrations against efforts to enlist members into the army. Haredi protesters successfully halt draft dodger arrest near Jerusalem, police leave scene - report
These domestic developments suggest that Jewish youth in Western countries, particularly the United States, will find making aliyah to Israel an increasing unattractive proposition. This is especially true when ever larger numbers of secular Jews leave Israel as a result of its international isolation. Indeed, many Israeli tourist feel uncomfortable admitting their nationality when traveling abroad due to the hostility toward their country. Poll: Most Israelis fear they won’t be able to travel abroad as global anger mounts
The third problem Israel faces, and perhaps the most profound and dangerous one, is its alienation from former supporters in the West. Much of this shift in support has occurred during the period when Benjamin Netanyahu has served a s prime minister. His full-scale promotion of the expansion of West Bank settlements, all considered illegal under international law, his attempts to use Palestinian Arab voting as a scare tactic to gain Jewish votes, and his efforts to turn Israel into an authoritarian state have led European Union states to decide to end arms sales, cut back on economic agreements with Israel, and recognize an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
How the Netanyahu regime' has undermined Western support for Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, who has served as prime minister for multiple terms totaling more than16 years, longer than any other Israeli prime minister. Under his watch, Israel has progressively moved ever farther to the right. Today it has the dubious distinction of being ruled by the most far-right, ultra-nationalist government since the state was founded in 1948.
At its founding, Israel was arguably the most democratic state in the MENA region. It garnered widespread Western support. Its leaders spoke English and were adept at interacting with Western politicians in a way in which Arab political leaders were not. Most European states felt duty-bound to strongly support Israel given the Holocaust which occurred on their soil. A large pro-Israel Jewish voting block in key regions such as the Northeast, California and Illinois produced strong American support
However, Israel was from its founding an ethnic democracy. Its Palestinian Arabs, those who had not been forced to leave their lands in 1948 by the fighting or by Zionist forces and were subsequently absorbed into Israel, are still second class citizens. Much like African-Americans in the United States, they remain to this day on the margins of Israeli society.
With Netanyahu's Likud Party having enacted a law in 2018 which declared that Israel was a "state for the Jewish people," many Israelis and foreign governments condemned it as racist and anti-democratic. Certainly, the law sent a message to Israel's Palestinian Arab citizens that their second class status would not just be de facto but institutionalized Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People
Prior to the October 7, 2023, attack by HAMAS terrorists, Netanyahu's far-right government was seeking to strip Israel's Supreme Court of its right to judicial review. Large number of Israelis saw this effort as an attempt to impose authoritarian rule. Nightly demonstrations rocked Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as hundreds of thousands protested in the streets.
If Netanyahu had been (and might still be) successful, the single chamber parliament - the Knesset - would have no check on any legislation which it passed. Thus, the far right could impose majoritarian rule, constraints on political participation, limit personal freedoms and ride roughshod over minority rights. Only the HAMAS attack in October 2023 forced Netanyahu to drop his anti-Supreme Court campaign and turn his attention to the Gaza crisis.
At first, Israel received widespread international support in reaction to the brutality of HAMAS' attack. However, the policy that the Netanyahu regime pursued to fighting HAMAS soon eroded this support. As civilian casualties rose precipitously (over 70,000 at this writing), especially among women and children, cries of " war crimes," "crimes against humanity" and then "genocide" were directed at Netanyahu and the Israeli Defense Forces. Safety Is When There’s No One Dying
It is important to note that the charges of genocide weren't made by Israel's enemies alone. A notable example is Brown University professor and genocide scholar, Dr. Omer Bartov, who was born and raised in Israel and served in the IDF, who wrote an important Opinion article in The New York Times, A Genocide Scholar on the Case Against Israel. More recently, he published a book expanding on the reasons why Israel has exchanged its democratic values for ethnonationalism. Israel: What Went Wrong?
This month, Brad Lander, a former New York City comptroller and self-described liberal Zionist, won a primary election in New York City. One of the chief criticisms of his opponent sitting Democratic Congressman, Dan Goldman, was that he was too beholden to the AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) which has used large scale funding to defeat candidates and elected officials which is considers insufficiently supportive of Israel. Lander beat Goldman by over 30 points in New York City's congressional district with the largest number of Jewish voters.
However, AIPAC support has now become toxic. Even Dan Goldman, who took AIPAC money in the past, refused to so in this election cycle. Despite seeking to disguise its support for its preferred candidate through a Super Pac, United for Democracy, AIPAC is no longer the potent force it once was when it could defeat anti-Israel politicians at will. Brad Lander clinches early victory in NY-10
Although the phrase is no longer common, Israel has been refereed to as "the 51st state" in the past. Politicians of both parties often saw a visit to Israel as a de riguer part of their campaign to demonstrate to Jewish voters their strong support for Israel. However, that is no longer the case.
A recent report by the United Nations Human Rights on the Gaza War concluded that the IDF purposefully targeted children as part of its military strategy. The Report's conclusion were shocking. In effect, it argued that the Netanyahu regime sought to ethnically clean Gaza by reducing the size of its youth population. This report is yet another nail in the coffin leading to Israel's international isolation. “The essence of childhood has been destroyed”: Israel’s deliberate targeting of Palestinian children in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 7 October 2023
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As the above charts and graphs indicate, support for Israel in the United States, its most important backer in the International community has experienced a sharp decline. On the one hand, we have Trump MAGA supporters who oppose the United States' participation in foreign wars. MAGA voters, often imbued with Semitism, see Netanyahu as a duplicitous leader who tries to draw the United States into wars which promote his and Israel's goals in the Middle East, but aren't in American national interests.
MAGA views reflect a larger American worldview who see the United States involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan as disasters which cost many American (not to mention foreign) lives and squandered trillions of dollars which could have been better spent on needed services and development.
On the other hand, we find large numbers of Democrats who find Israel's destruction of Gaza reprehensible. They also view the wanton destruction and killing of Palestinians in the West Bank and destruction of their property as a process of ethnic cleansing which is often abetted by IDF troops stationed in thew West Bank. Democrats in the United States Congress are increasingly unwilling to vote for providing Israel with arms and other forms of American foreign aid.
