Tensions Flicker into Flame, Lapping Across the Middle East

Alastair Crooke, 29 July 2026

The silence surrounding the outcome to the Netanyahu meeting yesterday in the Oval Office speaks for itself. No American government official came to the airport to receive him, and no red carpet was laid out for him. The visit bombed. Israel is adrift — with its ‘Greater Israel’ strategy now bleeding, for lack both of troops and coherence.

Former IDF Ombudsman Maj. Gen. Yitzak Brik predicts (Ma’ariv, 26 July) that the crisis engulfing the Israeli intercept inventory “is only the prelude to the catastrophe that is looming over us” —

“In the coming wars with Iran, the threat will increase tenfold to the point of a complete loss of the ability to intercept Iranian ballistic missiles. These missiles are expected to hit us: in population centers, strategic targets, production and economic infrastructure, science and technology institutes, educational institutions, hospitals and vital industries, and completely crush us”.

Trump — finally, it seems — understands that the war which he started in order to crush Iran has flipped — to destroying him. There is effectively no military solution available beyond stopping digging the hole that he is in still deeper.