Since the ceasefire was announced last night, I have been wracking my brain to identify any true successes to come out of this extension of the October 7 War*, but I have come up blank. (*I will never call the October 7 War Iron Swords or any other euphemism that Netanyahu comes up with to hide his failures, nor will I call this part of the war by Netanyahu’s Names Roaring Lion. It is a continuation of the October 7 War.)

Here is an incomplete list of failures:

No ‘Unconditional Surrender’ – Trump’s short-lived demand

No ‘Total Victory’ and certainly not a ‘victory for generations’ as Netanyahu declared in June 2025

No Regime Change – quite the opposite, the new regime leaders are the Revolutionary Guards and are far more extreme than their predecessors and there are more determined and resilient than ever

Erosion of US credibility and global standing

World-wide economic impacts

Strained alliances and increased isolation impacting both the US and Israel

No commitment by Iran to stop their nuclear weapons program

No talk about Iran’s ballistic missile program

Iran now tacitly controls the Hormuz Straits and is demanding $2 million dollars from each ship to pass

Netanyahu, since November 2025 has relinquished Israeli independence and handed over the keys to Trump. Israel had no seat at any table in the November 2025 ceasefire and end to that part of the October 7 War, and had no say whatsoever in this ceasefire.

Continuing loss of support by US politicians and population for Israel. For many, this was the last nail in the coffin of support. The overwhelming majority of the American public and political arena were against this war and totally blame Israel for dragging the US into our war. Their gas prices skyrocketed, the cost to the taxpayer was over $1 billion/day.

American bases in the Middle East were damaged in major ways. At least 13 bases are reported uninhabitable, 13 US service members killed, over 400 injured, 2 fighter jets downed and crews almost taken into captivity, with at least 16 US military aircraft lost, destroyed or damaged.

Over 40 energy assets, including multiple oil fields, refineries, and storage facilities, have been severely damaged or destroyed across the Middle East in the first five weeks of the 2026 Iran war.

29 civilians in Israel killed, more than 3500 injured, 6 soldiers killed, 15,000 people displaced from their homes; from June 2025, 2500 homes totally destroyed, 31,000 with major damages.

After bombastic statements in November 2025 by Netanyahu that Hizbollah is no longer considered a threat to the north, the IDF stated 3 days ago that Hizbollah can continue to........

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