Yossi Schwartz, ISL (RCIT section in Israel/ Occupied Palestine) 11.11.2026
Following the loss in the midterm elections for the House of Representatives and the Senate, there was a possibility that Trump, who accuses Netanyahu of dragging him into a war against Iran, would embark on another round of war, since he has nothing to lose, but the president’s room for maneuver for military action in the Gulf has been greatly reduced. While Netanyahu has once again persuaded Trump to fight another war, the White House seems to have lost interest.
The day before Trump said that the war in Iran is “effectively over” militarily, and that the resumption of fighting is “a very unlikely scenario.” But who knows what he will announce tomorrow. In Trump’s eternal swing, the odds are currently tilted in favor of an end to the war with Iran.
Trump said yesterday that there appeared to be no need for a resumption of the war and that a return to fighting would be “a very unlikely scenario. The war is “effectively over,” a statement he has avoided in recent months. He said there is now “positive momentum toward the end of the fighting.” “I hope it will be possible to bring it to an end.”
Trump’s recent remarks indicate that at this stage, he is choosing to follow the path of continuing the economic strangulation of Iran, and he hopes to impose an agreement on it on terms that are more favorable to the United States, even though at the moment there are no signs of a break in the Iranian leadership, headed by Supreme Leader Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei. Against the backdrop of the mediation efforts of Qatar and a number of other Gulf states, which hope to prevent a renewal of the war out of concern that a renewal of the war will lead to a collapse in their nuclear facilities
Israel is the only country in the region whose leadership – the current one, headed by Netanyahu, whose continued control is in doubt in light of the results of the Knesset elections, in which Eisenkot’s bloc gained 61 supporters to end Ohana’s term – continues to support the renewal of the war.
A significant group of senior Trump administration officials who oppose the resumption of the war, led by Vice President J.D. Vance, has been harshly critical of the attempts to continue it since the Republican defeat in the election. Vance attributed the election loss to the war, to the rise in fuel prices, and, by implication, to the president’s close alliance with Israel. Trump indirectly acknowledged the justification of his vice president’s arguments. On the other hand, there is a question mark about the chances of the secretary of defense and a prominent supporter of renewing the war, to remain in office after the election defeat.
Yesterday afternoon, at the Knesset swearing-in ceremony, Netanyahu gave a contemptible speech of the usual incitement against the Arab public and its elected officials, and a return to a plan for a third war with Iran.