How Israel and Its Lobby Finally Got Their War
Their dream, the world's nightmare, comes true.
Yesterday, Israel attacked Iran. Why? Israel has been agitating for war with Iran for decades, and it finally got the U.S. administration it needed to either green light it or just allow it. I’d bet it was a green light.
This attack is the ultimate step in Israel’s relentless campaign to torpedo diplomacy and kill the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The destruction of that deal by Donald Trump after intense lobbying by billionaire donors and AIPAC cutouts like Lindsey Graham and others of his ilk led to exactly what it was designed to prevent: a military attack by Israel to destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities rather than the diplomatic agreement that was doing the job.
To understand what happened, we need to understand the JCPOA. It was the most ambitious and successful diplomatic achievement of the 21st century. Negotiated between Iran and the P5+1—the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, and China—along with the European Union and endorsed by the UN Security Council, the JCPOA was not just a bilateral agreement. It was a multilateral pact backed by nearly every major global power.
The agreement was reached in 2015 after years of painstaking diplomacy. The basic deal was this: Iran would drastically limit its nuclear program and agree to rigorous inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in exchange for relief from crushing economic sanctions.
Iran agreed to reduce its stockpile of enriched uranium by 98%, dismantle two-thirds of its centrifuges, cap enrichment levels at 3.67% (well below weapons-grade), and allow continuous monitoring of its nuclear facilities. It would also convert its heavy water reactor at Arak, making it impossible to produce weapons-grade plutonium.
This was not based on trust. It was based on verification. The IAEA confirmed again and again that Iran was complying. It was a textbook case of arms control success. The world breathed easier.
Except Israel which, unlike Iran, is not a signatory of the non-proliferation treaty and which, unlike Iran, has 200 nuclear weapons ready for launching from air, sea, or land. Iran has zero.
From the start, Israel—and especially Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—opposed the JCPOA with a fury. Netanyahu called it a "historic mistake" and claimed Iran would never uphold its end. AIPAC went into overdrive. It worked furiously to sink the deal in Congress, pressuring lawmakers, especially Democrats, to vote against it. It was one of the most intense lobbying campaigns in recent memory. Republicans fell in line almost immediately. Democrats were split. In the end, despite the opposition, the JCPOA survived, largely due to President Obama’s firm stand.
And it worked. From 2015 to 2018, Iran's nuclear program was frozen and rolled back. The world had unprecedented access into Iranian facilities. There was no Iranian effort to evade JCPOA’S terms and build a bomb. Diplomacy had done what bombs never could: stop a war before it started.
But Israel and its hirelings at AIPAC and Congress (like Chuck Schumer, and the thankfully now gone Ben Cardin, Joe Manchin, and Bob Menendez) never let up. They continued to attack the deal in the press, in international forums, and most effectively, in Washington. Then came Trump.
Donald Trump, courting pro-Israel voters and donors, repeatedly pledged to rip up the JCPOA. He called it the "worst deal ever negotiated." In 2018, he made good on his promise, pulling the U.S. out of the agreement despite Iran's compliance. This unilateral withdrawal shattered the deal.
The Europeans tried to salvage it, but without U.S. participation, the sanctions relief Iran had been promised vanished. Eventually, Iran began ramping up its nuclear development surely very mindful what Israel does to those with no defenses against it.
That brings us to 2025. With the deal dead, tensions escalated. Israel increased its covert attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists and facilities. Iran retaliated with drone and missile strikes on Israeli and U.S. targets in the region. The spiral accelerated.
And now, with Trump back in power, Israel was able to fulfill its decades-long dream: bombing Iran.
Make no mistake—Israel is the only country that consistently and publicly demanded a military solution to Iran. The rest of the world, including America’s own intelligence community, repeatedly confirmed Iran was abiding by the JCPOA. But Israel insisted Iran could never be trusted. That the deal would never work. That war was inevitable. And now they have it.
The blame for this conflict rests squarely on Israel’s shoulders and on the lobbying apparatus, chiefly AIPAC, that did everything it could to kill the best chance we had at avoiding war. This is not hindsight; it was predicted in real time. Experts warned that exiting the JCPOA would open the path to war. Israel and its allies in Washington didn’t care. War was their goal.
Now we’re there. Bombs are falling. People are dying. Both Tehran and Tel Aviv are under attack. And for what? To solve a problem that had already been solved? To shut down a program that had already been frozen?
Imagine if Israel had accepted the JCPOA. Imagine if AIPAC had stood down. The deal would have remained in force. Iran’s nuclear program could still be under tight surveillance. Sanctions relief could have improved conditions in Iran, strengthening moderates and creating space for further diplomacy. There would be no reason for war.
But that alternative was destroyed. Deliberately. And now the world is paying the price.
Israel agitated for this war. It sabotaged the best alternative to war. It insisted there was no other way. Now we see what that path leads to: chaos, destruction, and the very danger the JCPOA had prevented. This didn’t have to happen. But it was made to happen, by those who believed bombs are always better than agreements. They were wrong, as the Israeli hawks and neocon allies here always are. And we are all paying for it.
This is one of those rare instances where you can’t say, “There is plenty of blame to go around.”
Nope. It’s all on Israel, its lobby, and, big surprise, the election of Donald Trump, although, to be fair, there is absolutely zero chance he would have torpedoed the JCPOA but for the constant pressure from Israel and its lobby.
He’s many things, all terrible, but a neocon warmonger is not among them. And it’s possible, barely, that he’ll put a stop to this Israeli production before it escalates into a regional or even global war, which will spare no one. And certainly not Americans, in uniform and at home. More likely, Trump who knows nothing about the region will listen to people like Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his son-in-law Jared Kushner who are truly fanatical on the subject of Israel.
The overwhelming majority of Jews despise Trump and three quarters of them voted against him all three times he ran for president. But the Jews around him, almost all billionaires and rightwingers, are consistent Israel Firsters. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick is typical of that crowd, rich beyond belief and as ignorant of the Middle East as of everything else not related to his personal finances. Naturally, they love Israel and despise Muslims and Arabs (except the Gulf potentates).
And now they have another war—in addition to Gaza—to be happy about.
Thanks Israel.
Genocide in Gaza, increasing attacks on West Bank Palestinians, and war with Iran all at once. And all with utter disregard, not merely for the victims, or the rest of the world, but for the lives of the Israeli people. And for Jews worldwide, whose safety they risk with crazed abandon. For this, we needed this very un-Jewish “Jewish State.” It’s not just the Palestinians’ nakba. It’s ours too.