While Israel unleashes its military power across a wide region — stretching its threats even to the far reaches of Iran — it also wages a political war on the world stage, attempting to impose its narrative and distort reality in the Middle East. When the United Nations sought to limit its excesses, Israel launched an open campaign against the UN, its Secretary-General, and its institutions. When the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, Israel lashed out with fury.
For decades, Israel divided the world into two camps: “civilised” and “barbaric,” presenting itself as the spearhead of “civilisation” against the so-called barbarians. But when Western nations began rejecting this narrative, recognising the crimes against Palestinians and collectively moving to acknowledge the State of Palestine, Israel reacted with hostility — threatening even its traditional allies with punishment.
Today, Israel relies almost entirely on U.S. Republican support and Trump’s evangelical right-wing base. For many Israelis, this isolation — political, legal, and moral — against much of the world is not a sign of strength but a recipe for eventual collapse. As Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich boasted about “burying” the Palestinian state by approving settlement expansion in Khan al-Ahmar, critics said he was also burying the so-called Jewish state itself.
“A Mad State Led by Fanatics”
Dr. Tomer Persico, a professor of Jewish and Israeli studies who calls himself a liberal Zionist, shocked Israelis with a Facebook post describing Israel as a “mad state” in the eyes of the world, led by “fanatics without limits or logic.” He wrote that the wave of international recognition of Palestine was not only to affirm Palestinian rights but also to give them tools to defend themselves from Israel itself. “They only want to save the people of Gaza from Israel,” he said. He warned of Israel’s complete moral collapse, noting that Jewish sovereignty, for many around the world, had come to represent a terrifying prospect for humanity.
The Danger Within
Israeli commentators see in such voices the gravest danger: when parts of Israeli society itself begin to acknowledge that Israel is a model of sovereign moral failure. Once this rhetoric spreads, the historical and moral claims that Israel’s founders tried to build upon begin to disintegrate.
In Maariv, journalist Efraim Ganor wrote under the title “Wake Up, Israelis” that the state was losing both its rational path and its founding Zionist idea. He called for Netanyahu’s government to be brought down before it is too late:
“We are watching the state disintegrate before our eyes. The Zionist project we dreamed of for generations, built with blood, sweat, and tears, is crumbling. Former chiefs of staff are dismissed as ‘rags’ by those who never wore a uniform. The police increasingly resemble militias. A government that only acts to preserve itself destroys the economy, education, health, and security — yet the public remains indifferent.”
Former Israeli ambassador to Denmark, Baruch Binah, warned that occupying Gaza would bring a catastrophe that lasts for generations. He compared Israel’s behaviour to declaring that “the landlord has gone insane,” which has only encouraged allies like Britain and Germany to push for Israel’s isolation. He noted that an upcoming UN General Assembly meeting could unleash international sanctions beyond the UN framework — potentially leading to Israel’s expulsion from organisations like FIFA, Eurovision, and other global bodies. “This is what happened to apartheid South Africa, and it can happen to us too,” he warned.
Toward Collapse
For many Israelis, these warnings echo the language of historical collapse. A veteran Israeli diplomat described the current period as possibly symbolising the “third destruction of the Temple” — not just a military crisis but the destruction of the Jewish homeland itself. He urged an immediate halt to the war and the release of captives to prevent further ruin.
In an interview with Zman Israel, musician Yaakov Gilad (74) said bluntly: “A major catastrophe awaits us.” He compared Israel’s actions in Gaza to the Holocaust, recounting his mother’s testimony as a survivor:
“The Holocaust was not only about gas chambers. Today, a bomb is dropped on a refugee camp and 500 children are killed at once. Why build gas chambers when you can kill them in a minute? Ask any child in Gaza about his life — he will describe an experience like Auschwitz.”
Gilad argued that October 7 was indeed catastrophic, but it did not come from nowhere. Decades of besieging Gaza and imprisoning its people in despair inevitably produced a generation ready to sacrifice their lives.
Hamas Defeats Israel Politically
Prominent commentator Ben-Dror Yemini wrote in Yedioth Ahronoth that Hamas has shifted the battlefield:
“Hamas does not defeat Israel militarily — it defeats Israel politically. This is not an opinion but a fact. Israel’s political position has never been worse.”
He ridiculed the Israeli belief that Hamas leaders tremble at threats of further destruction:
“Hamas actually wants Israel to accelerate its aggression — more death, more destruction. Every Israeli misstep deepens boycotts: academic, cultural, military. Every step strengthens BDS. This is Hamas’ political victory.”
The Black Hour
Another Yedioth Ahronoth columnist, Lior Ben-Shaul, warned that the state founded on the ashes of World War II, fed endlessly by Western support, was nearing its “black hour.” He wrote:
“Israel’s crisis is not merely military or political — it is existential. Hamas has shattered the myth of invincibility, exposing our fragility to the world. Within two years, Israel will not exist as we know it. Perhaps it will survive as a besieged fortress or collapse entirely, and the land will return to its people. History is clear: every colonial project built on blood and lies has collapsed.”
Even former Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg urged Jews to take Israel itself to the International Criminal Court, arguing that the Israeli experiment had produced a corrupt mutation of Judaism — fusing religion, land, power, language, and sovereignty into an aberration. He warned that violent messianic militias have hijacked the state:
“From top to bottom, Israel has been dismantled. That state no longer exists.”
The Final Word: Yaakov Sharett
The voices warning of Israel’s demise are not new. Nearly twenty years ago, Yaakov Sharett — son of Moshe Sharett, Israel’s second Prime Minister — published a book declaring Herzl’s state a failure. He opposed Jewish immigration to Israel, predicted dark days ahead, and has since become one of the fiercest defenders of Palestine and critics of Zionism.
