Why do we repeatedly make the mistake of thinking that if we use more military force, we will achieve more security? Why do we repeat the same mistake of the First Lebanon War, where our soldiers’ blood was spilled without strategic purpose? How do we explain that the Israeli public bought into the fantasy of total victory in Gaza and then in Iran, while in reality, even when we win on the battlefield, we lose the overall strategic campaign?

Americans learned in Vietnam that the body count theory, which Defense Secretary Robert McNamara used to define success, led to strategic failure. They learned in Iraq that victory on the battlefield, the elimination of Saddam Hussein, and the abolition of Ba’athist rule led to the rise of ISIS and the increase of Iranian influence there. They learned this lesson in Afghanistan, a war that dragged in all NATO countries and ended up with the Taliban returning to power. Because of these past mistakes, Trump’s and Netanyahu’s war in Iran is so unpopular in the U.S., but why was it popular here in Israel?

One reason we in Israel do not learn is that we do not distinguish between tactical........

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