How long can Israel endure a long war?

The US-Israel duo continues its attacks on Iran without slowing down. While US imperialism and Israeli Zionism recognize no limits in their aggression, many experts are debating Iran's weapons stockpiles, its economic endurance, and the size of its military. It is clear that Iran is better prepared for US-Israeli aggression than the West anticipated. Its resistance is also quite high. Tehran has also drawn the necessary lessons for itself from the 12-Day War experienced with Israel last year.

The questions that Western experts ask of Iran should also be asked of Israel. Because as the number and accuracy of the Iranian missiles and rockets striking Israel increase, the tendency of the young, well-educated, urban population in Israel to migrate to the US and European countries and live there also increases.

Let us recall that Israel declared war after attacking Gaza, which it had kept under blockade for many years, and beginning a genocide. Immediately after the declaration of war, in October 2023, it called 360,000 reservists to mobilization. The reserve soldiers called up by the Israeli army work in a wide range of sectors, from industry to agriculture. The reserve military obligation lasts until the age of 51. Therefore, drafting such a large group, pulling them away from business life, production, and trade, means a significant loss of income and production for Israel. Israel, with a population of roughly 10 million, is struggling to compensate for this loss of labor. According to a report by the Beirut-based Center for Political Studies, reserve forces in Israel, where women also serve in the military, make up roughly two-thirds of the army's total strength. This ratio ranks first when compared to other armies in the world. According to data from Global Firepower in the US, the number of active-duty personnel in the Israeli army is 173,000, and the number of reserve soldiers is 465,000. How willing and eager the reserve soldiers are when called up by the army, and what percentage of them respond positively to this call, is a separate subject of debate in the country.

In the Israeli army, where mandatory military service is performed between the ages of 18 and 21, there are basically three main groups: professional active-duty forces, those drafted as part of mandatory military service, and reserve forces. Israel, which is a security state in addition to being a religious state, has a national security doctrine based on the principle of a "militarized, trained, and organized public." Therefore, Israel can call all its citizens who have performed military service, received weapons training, and are capable of holding a weapon to the army. This situation also applies to Israeli citizens abroad. There is a segment that does not go to the military and is not drafted for religious reasons, which is constantly debated in Israel in its religious, political, legal, and military dimensions.

ISRAELI AGGRESSION KNOWS NO BOUNDS

Israel is attacking Palestine with the unlimited support of US imperialism. It is occupying Palestinian lands by committing genocide and building new settlements. It is attacking Lebanon. It is attacking Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is trying to extend his political future through these attacks, occupations, and genocides, and to make people forget the corruption allegations against himself and his wife. It is also seen that he is successful in this effort.

However, it is clear that no matter how many blows it receives, no matter how much it is attacked, Iran is not Syria, Iraq, or Venezuela. The US-Israel duo also knows this fact. They see that it is very difficult to change the regime in Iran. They admit that they will not be able to reach their targets in Iran solely through airstrikes, bombardment, missiles, and rockets. Therefore, they do not completely rule out the possibility of attacking Iran from the ground with special forces. Due to Iran's mountainous geography, vast surface area, large population, the resistance of its people, and its war-experienced army, the US-Israel duo, who cannot risk attacking from the ground, occupying, or engaging in urban warfare, are led to occasionally voice the option of attacking specific strategic targets with special forces. However, they have not yet been able to risk this. And it is quite difficult for them to risk it.

US WEAPONS COMPANIES ARE SMILING

When commenting, in addition to the intensity, depth, and complexity of the US-Israel relationship, and the political, military, economic, geopolitical, and strategic dimensions of the US toward the Middle East, it is also necessary to take into account the greed for profit of the military-industrial structure, which is one of the dominant sectors in the US economy.

The military-industrial structure, which has a very large influence in a very wide field in the US, from business, industry, and trade to politics, bureaucracy, academia, media, think tanks, and lobbies, smiles more every time a war breaks out. Every time the US attacks, its stock prices rise, and its earnings increase. NATO members increasing their defense spending, Arab countries allocating more budget to armament, the prolongation of the war in Ukraine, and the unlimited support the US gives to Israel all benefit the US defense industry and giant-scale weapons companies. The "Big 5" known in this sector are winning: Lockheed Martin is winning, Boeing is winning, Raytheon is winning, General Dynamics is winning, and Northrop Grumman is winning. They routinely receive at least 150 billion dollars in business from the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) every year.

The expansion of NATO also made these companies very happy. Let us state that US imperialism has brought Europe under US control geopolitically and strategically, both directly and through NATO and the European Union. Europe has become a welfare society, but it has also outsourced its security to the US. Today, that welfare society has also become quite weak. NATO, the apparatus of attack and occupation of US imperialism, has been successful in keeping the US inside Europe, Russia outside of Europe, and Germany within its own borders. It has increased the earnings of weapons companies in the US. On the other hand, all this aggression, barbarism, wars, occupations, and genocides have further increased anti-Americanism. It has accelerated the search for alternatives to the US and regional alliances.