US President Donald Trump announced the end of the Iran-Israeli war that lasted 12 days on 24 June. For about two weeks, the middle East stood at the threshold of the war. Iran and Israel attacked each other with fighter jets, drones and hypersonic ballistic missiles. The Middle East, which is the energy -rich area of ​​the world, is like a gun in the war gas station, that is, a single pill can become a spark of apocalypse.
The spark of this war in the Middle East erupted on 7 October 2023, when Hamas’s frenzied military commander Yahya Sinwar ordered a massacre of 1200 Israeli civilians. After this, the region was submerged in the most terrible crisis after the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The Yom Kipping War was the last traditional war between Israel and any Arab country (Egypt).
In 2023, Israel launched a military campaign against Hamas in Gaza Patti, but it now ended with the US intervention, in which the US bombed Iran’s nuclear bases on 22 June. This 12-day war was the most deadly struggle in West Asia after the 1973 Yom Kippur War and its story revolves around three personalities- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Geography decided the limits of war between Iran and Israel
It is difficult to decide victory in such wars which end without decisive results. Even in this 12 -day war, ‘Regim Change’ (change of governance) was promised, but it did not realize. In 2003, the US -led coalition attacked Iraq with 1.6 lakh soldiers and set up a Western -backed rule by defeating Saddam Hussein’s army. But no ground action was taken in 2025. Both Iran and Israel are standing there, where they were in October 2023, both governments are still the same. The limits of this war were decided by geography.
There is a distance of more than 1000 km between Iran and Israel. Therefore, the war was fought in Iraq, Jordan and Syrian airs. Israeli pilots covered a long distance from the Delhi-Mumbai return flight and bombed in Iran. Iran, on the other hand, does not have an impressive Air Force, he attacked Israel with drones and ballistic missiles.
After the war, both countries claimed victory
On June 24, Netanyahu said, “Israel has won a historic victory that will be remembered for generations, as it abolished two immediate existence threats. The risk of nuclear destruction and the risk of destruction from 20,000 ballistic missiles”.
At the same time, Khamenei, who has suffered the most serious military threat to his rule since 1979, said that Iran is not the nation that surrenders.
US President Donald Trump, whose dream of receiving the Nobel Peace Prize is still intact, jumped into the West Asia’s war as the first strategic bomb and then as a peacekeeper. If we look at the ground reality carefully, then a clear winner seems to- Benjamin Netanyahu.
On 6 October 2023, Netanyahu was politically in trouble. He was the first Prime Minister of Israel who was officially accused in 2019 in three cases of fraud, fraud and betrayal. He was removed from the post in 2021, but he returned again after winning a majority in the 2022 elections.
Hamas attack is the biggest security lapse of Israel
In the October 7 attacks, more than 5,600 fighters of Hamas entered to attack Israel, fired 4,000 rockets and killed 1200 citizens. Also, more than 200 citizens were taken hostage. This attack took place when Israel had a strong intelligence of Hamas’s intentions. This was the biggest lapse after the 1973 Yom Kippur War in the security of Israel. The Israeli response was reminiscent of the 1967 war when Syria, Jordan and Egypt attacked Israel together.
This attack could have ended the career of any other leader, but not Netanyahu. He is a former Israeli Special Forces officer and his brother Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Netanyahu launched a historic campaign to free Israeli travelers in Antabe, Uganda in 1976. Netanyahu sent an army in Gaza to eliminate Hamas and rescue about 250 Israeli hostages.
In response, Iran activated its Shia Proxy Network in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon. This ‘Axis of Resistance’ of Iran was erected by IRGC Commander Major General Qasim Sulemani in the last two decades.
The largest group of these was Hizbullah, who attacked Israel with its missiles and rockets, leading to migration of people from northern Israel. Shia organization Huti, 2,000 km away, fired missiles on Israel and closed Red C for Western ships. He started massive use of anti-ship ballistic missiles on commercial ships. Qataib Hizbullah from Iraq, an Iraqi Shia Proxy Group, also fired missiles on Israel.
Netanyahu followed military advice
The military advice given to Netanyahu in 2023 was to fight Hamas and handle other fronts. In fact, the Israeli war could end when the IDF had controlled a large part of the Gaza Strip and finished Yahya Sinwar in 2024.
War forces fight but they give them direction. And this decision was to be taken by Netanyahu. He chose the path of War of Attrition, sensing the opportunity. The path of a long and painful military campaign, which lasted for 20 months and ended when Israel attacked Iran for the first time in history. In October 2024 too, Iran and Israel fired fighter jets and ballistic missiles on each other. But this struggle was repeated on a large scale in June 2025.
Operation Rising Lion Israel’s biggest military action
Netanyahu’s fate and shine when Donald Trump returned to the White House on 20 January. At the beginning of his first term, Trump canceled the Iran nuclear deal in 2016, which reduced the global sanctions imposed on it instead of stopping Iran’s nuclear program. In 2020, Trump ordered General Qasim Sulemani to murder in Iraq. In his second term, Trump took an oath to end the Iran-Israeli war, but Netanyahu’s intentions were different.
On 13 June, Israel launched ‘Operation Rising Lion’, which was its biggest military action in almost two decades. More than 200 fighter aircraft left for hundreds of missions and targeted the Iranian military bases, hit nuclear scientists and killed military officials. By this time, Netanyahu had already made a dent in the Chakravyuh of Iran’s Shia influence, which was spread through Lebanon and Syria to Iraq and Iran.
The cycle broke out last December when the rule of Bashar al-Assad fell and Syria went to a Western supporter government. The Israeli war aircraft had already destroyed Syrian’s remaining Air Force and naval properties in pre-mepective stripes (in response to pre-focus), which eliminated a potential military threat from Syria to Israel to Israel.
Israeli’s pager attack on Hizbullah
Hizbullah was crushed by Israeli’s limited ground infiltration and a target ‘Pager Bomb’ attacks on its top leadership, and its leader Hasan Nasralla was killed by the Israeli Air Force. This ‘political move’ of Netanyahu was probably an attempt to draw the US and President Trump into the struggle in which he was reluctant to join.
With the end of the war in June 2025 and the beginning of a delicate ceasefire, Iran stands alone and exposed. Her nuclear enrichment facilities have now turned into debris, her proxy forces are shattered, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is hiding in a bunker, and her rule is thankful only for her survival.
Netanyahu’s visit is similar to former PM Golda Mayor
Netanyahu’s 20-month visit is similar to the visit of Israeli’s charismatic Prime Minister Golda Mayor, who was the Prime Minister during the 1973 Yom Kipping War. The Israeli intelligence agencies then failed to predict the shocking military attacks of Egypt and Syria. Israel retaliated and brought both countries to a standoff, which saved some respect.
Golda Mayor resigned in April 1974, when the Agrenat Commission convicted his government for serious intelligence failures on the eve of the 1973 war. And this is where the similarities of Golda Mayor and Netanyahu are eliminated.
In 2024, an Israeli investigation convicted the military and intelligence community for the preparations for Hamas. It was found in this investigation that before 7 October, the warnings given about Hamas’s activities were either ignored or presented in a wrong way. Till now, Netanyahu has been opposing any demands for investigation, which should investigate the failures of his political leadership, which could not prevent the attack.
Netanyahu became the PM to be the most time PM
In 2025, Netanyahu has become Israel’s longest serving Prime Minister- 6 terms in 17 years. This number is 6 years more than his friend Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been the Prime Minister of India for 11 years till now. Both Netanyahu and Modi have fought equal types of battles.
When Netanyahu tried to help Iran and its proxy network helpless, PM Modi challenged Pakistan’s nuclear blackmail, which he has been using to protect his terrorists. The next time these two leaders are seen walking together on a beach in Israel, they will only have a lot to talk about more serious topics than sea water purification plants.
(Sandeep Unnathan is a writer and senior journalist. The views expressed are personal.)