Israeli society is intoxicated by war and the dream of expansion. It cannot last
A member of Israel’s security forces stands guard in an area that was reportedly hit by an overnight Iranian strike, in Tel Aviv on 1 March 2026
Abed Abou Shhadeh writes in Middle East Eye on 2 March 2026:
“Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever.”
This quote comes from George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, and in the wake of the US-Israeli attack on Iran – which killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, shocking the Muslim world and destabilising the entire region – it is hard not to see the connection to recent events.
The unprovoked onslaught, which came despite apparent progress in negotiations in Oman, now threatens the lives of millions of people across the region. It follows US President Donald Trump’s repeated promise to end conflicts, representing another Orwellian inversion: “War is peace, peace is war.”
The escalation also comes in the context of recent statements by US ambassador Mike Huckabee endorsing Israel’s right to expand its borders from the Nile to the Euphrates, while Israel continues its drive to seize more Palestinian lands; and the Munich speech by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which expressed a desire to restore western greatness through a return to colonialism, to the delight of European political elites.
The US and Israel are eliminating political and religious leaders, amid blatant disregard for the sentiments of the peoples of the Global South – and for the long-term consequences in reframing world politics.
We do not need to imagine how the new world order will unfold. Rather, we must examine Israel and Israeli society in light of the present reality, including the romanticisation of war and broad support for mobilising the machinery of war.
Broad political consensus
While Israeli forces bomb Iran and kill innocent civilians, many Israelis – sitting in cafes in between running for shelter during Iran’s retaliatory attacks – describe this as a just war, one aimed at liberating the Iranian people, especially women, from the rule of the ayatollahs. These comments come even as more than 150 schoolgirls were reportedly killed in southern Iran.