Former Knesset Speaker: Israel Drowning in a Quagmire of Failure, Solution in 'Strategy of Loss'

Former Israeli Knesset Speaker, Avraham Burg, launched a scathing attack on current military and political policies, asserting that Israel is living a reality far more difficult than portrayed. Burg explained that the wars the state has fought since 1967 have proven that winning isolated battles does not necessarily mean winning the entire war, which is evident today in the abysmal failure on the Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran fronts.

Burg considered every battlefield to have turned into a quagmire that drains human and material resources, claiming lives without achieving tangible results. He pointed out that the gap between the promises of the political leadership and the daily reality of Israelis has become a deep chasm threatening a comprehensive collapse, describing the slogan of 'absolute victory' as a farce that leaves behind nothing but graves and the wreckage of life.

Regarding the northern front, the former official noted that promises to defeat Hezbollah were nothing but hell for the residents of the north who have become exiles from their homes. He affirmed that these residents demand the minimum security to return to their homes, but they face a complex military reality that offers them nothing but hollow promises and a long wait.

Burg described the confrontation with Iran as 'the great deception' that has begun to explode in the face of Israeli society, warning that continuing this approach represents real suicide. He explained that the effects of the war with Tehran are not limited to mutual bombardment but extend to impacting the global economy and energy prices, weakening the position of international partners that Israel needs.

The article touched upon the American position, indicating that the Washington administration finds itself facing unplanned dilemmas related to reconstruction costs and who will assume security responsibility after the war. Burg warned that the growing resentment within Congress and the American public towards Israel is not just transient noise, but a political force crystallizing to threaten Israel's remaining political capital.

The former Knesset Speaker proposed a controversial concept of 'investing in loss' as an alternative national strategy to clinging to blind force. He likened the current situation to 'sumo' wrestlers stuck, where one calculated step backward can unbalance the opponent and lead to a real and sustainable victory away from direct bloody confrontation.

Burg invoked historical examples to support his vision, noting that the United States won battles in Vietnam but lost the war, while Menachem Begin knew how to concede Sinai to achieve strategic peace. He considered Begin's step, despite being described as surrender at the time, to be the most important in Israel's history, while the current leadership lacks the flexibility to protect the state from falling.

Burg described the current leadership as 'hollow,' directing sharp criticism at Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, describing the former as ignorant and the latter as a reckless boy. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also received his share of the attack, with Burg describing him as weak and detached from reality, accusing him of focusing on political showmanship and seeking attention.

The author believes that a real alternative to the ongoing confrontation with Iran requires a new agreement that recognizes regional reality, emphasizing that Iran and its ideological power will not disappear. He called for the necessity of developing direct and indirect diplomatic channels to deal with Tehran, just as major historical nations that experienced bloody conflicts, such as France and Germany, did.

Burg stressed the need to distinguish between the nuclear threat, which requires non-military treatment, and the illusions of 'regime change' that bombs have never succeeded in achieving. He affirmed that the Middle East in the coming years will be forced to accommodate everyone, and that Israel, capable of managing complex relations, is the only one with a future in the region.

The article explained that 'calculated loss' is not surrender, but rather the leadership's ability to discern the moment when continuing the war becomes detrimental to the supreme national interest. He considered that timely concession might be worth more than a blood-stained victory, an alternative strategy that successive Israeli governments have not dared to try.

Burg warned that the real enemy is not in Gaza or Beirut, but in the closed rooms where leaders make decisions to expand wars to save themselves from the failure of their previous administration. He pointed out that 'narcissistic' leaders refuse to admit that continued confrontation is in itself the greatest loss that closes the doors of the future to coming generations.

The author affirmed that every additional day of fighting closes a new opportunity for rapprochement and reconciliation, while those inciting war in government corridors pay no price from their lives or stability. He called for the necessity of taking a step back to allow the warring forces to lose their balance, considering Netanyahu's departure as the necessary first step in this path.

In conclusion of his analysis, Burg called on Israeli society to realize that the victory promoted by the government comes at a price that increases daily without a real horizon for an end. He concluded that recognizing reality and seeking diplomatic paths is the only way to avoid a fatal collision with the deep abyss of identity on whose edge Israel now stands.

Sometimes the only way to win is to know how to lose, and Israel today has not won on any front between Gaza and Tehran.