Ex-Israeli PM to Netanyahu: Crushing Iran Is a Delusion — End the War Before It Ends You

According to Saed News, in a striking break from the Israeli political establishment, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has publicly condemned the notion that military aggression can subdue Iran. Speaking amid rising tensions following the U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, Olmert criticized both Washington and Tel Aviv for what he described as “dangerous naivety and strategic arrogance.”

“This bombardment may delay Iran’s nuclear ambitions momentarily,” Olmert said, “but the long-term consequences will be far more severe.” He argued that decision-makers in Israel and the U.S. underestimate Iran’s depth, resilience, and historical identity. “The belief that a nation of 90 million people, with a civilization spanning millennia, can be broken by preemptive strikes is not strategy—it’s hubris.”

Olmert warned that Iran, despite absorbing painful blows, remains intact and militarily capable. “They still command a formidable missile arsenal. Iran won’t simply collapse,” he emphasized.

But his criticism didn’t stop there. The former prime minister accused Netanyahu of exploiting the U.S. attack on Iran to divert attention from his own failures—particularly the prolonged and inconclusive war in Gaza. “This operation has provided Netanyahu not only with a dramatic distraction,” Olmert noted, “but also with a possible exit ramp from a war he cannot win.”

In a pointed reference to Netanyahu’s political legacy, Olmert remarked: “History has shown that Netanyahu knows how to start wars. What he lacks is the courage, imagination, and statesmanship to end them.”

He concluded with a grave warning: “If Netanyahu truly has wisdom and responsibility, he must stop the war now. Otherwise, this pride-driven campaign will dismantle everything he claims to have built for Israel.”

Olmert’s intervention—rare, raw, and public—may signal growing fractures within Israel’s leadership class over the trajectory of the conflict, particularly as civilian casualties rise and the prospect of a wider war looms.