Al Jazeera’s Senior Political Analyst, Marwan Bishara, delivered a scathing critique of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of recycling old lies and manipulating the American public with what he described as theatrical deception.
Reacting to Netanyahu’s recent interview in which he used the term “theological thugs” to refer to Iranian leaders, Bishara reminded viewers that two of Netanyahu’s own ministers are under European sanctions for being “fanatical religious thugs.” Yet, Netanyahu continues to project moral authority over others, he said.
“There are so many problems with that interview,” Bishara began, insisting that Netanyahu was repeating debunked lies that echo the misinformation campaign ahead of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. “What he’s doing is basically recreating the theatrical deception that we’ve seen unravel before the Gulf War.”
Bishara broke down what he sees as four key falsehoods being pushed once again to justify confrontation with Iran.
“One: that there is an imminent nuclear danger.” According to Bishara, this claim has already been contradicted by the U.S. intelligence community. “Tulsi Gabbard told us that Iran is not working on a nuclear weapon. There is no nuclear weapon program. The Supreme Leader did not sanction it,” he said.
“Two: they’re telling us Iran might hand nuclear weapons to the Houthis.” Bishara ridiculed the logic, saying, “Again, no nuclear weapons. Why would they give them to the Houthis? How would they give them to the Houthis? What would the Houthis do with them?” He likened it to the false pre-war claim that Saddam Hussein was supplying al-Qaeda with nuclear arms.
Third, Bishara addressed the justification of regime change under the banner of national defense. “Why should a little country like Israel be imposing on a country like Iran a regime change,” he asked, “when its own government is fanatical, fascist, and its leaders are indicted in the International Criminal Court for war crimes?”
“It’s a genocidal government,” he added. “It has nuclear weapons. It’s not a signatory to the NPT. Iran does not have nuclear weapons, has signed and is a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.”
Summing up his frustration, Bishara said the effort to sell these narratives to Americans only reinforces a long-held belief: “Netanyahu thinks the Americans are stupid. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be uttering those sorts of lies to the Americans that have gone through these lies before.”
He then turned his attention to Donald Trump, who appears to be playing both sides. “Trump has been hedging. It’s a very Trumpian hedge. He always wants to come out a winner. He likes winners,” Bishara said. When Netanyahu seemed to be gaining the upper hand militarily, Trump was quick to praise Israel’s “excellent bombing.” But as the situation shifted, “he told Putin that we need to bring an end to the war.”
Bishara found particular irony in the selective outrage over the idea of assassinating Iran’s Supreme Leader. “It’s okay to bomb a country and to change the regime, but it’s not okay to attack the leader?” he asked. “It’s okay for Trump to tell Netanyahu, ‘Go ahead, bomb the hell out of the country,’ but don’t touch its leader? What is that?”
He warned that if Trump pursues regime change in Iran, the consequences would far exceed those of the Iraq War. “If he does take responsibility for regime change in Iran, that’s not gonna be $3 trillion—that’s gonna be $30 trillion. And that’s not gonna be three, four years, ‘mission accomplished.’ That’s going to go on for decades.”
Ending on a sobering note, Bishara emphasized that regime change from the outside would create a vacuum, civil war, and total implosion within Iran. “And that is not good for anyone, including the opposition to the regime.
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