Netanyahu juga mengklaim tindakan militernya telah menjauhkan bahaya pemusnahan massal.
"We removed, for years to come, this danger hanging over us of the elimination of Israel’s population," klaimnya.
Analis riset keamanan senior Danny Citrinowicz menilai kegagalan taktis ini memerlukan perombakan total prioritas militer Israel. "Israel's failure requires a renewed assessment of its strategy towards Tehran," katanya.
Citrinowicz menambahkan bahwa ruang gerak Netanyahu untuk melangkahi keputusan Gedung Putih melalui Kongres kini tertutup.
"Unlike during the Obama administration, when Benjamin Netanyahu could try to bypass the White House by mobilising support in Congress and in US public opinion, those options barely exist at this time," paparnya.
Mantan penasihat pemerintah Israel Daniel Levy menilai klaim kemenangan Netanyahu tidak lagi kredibel.
"The assumption was that if you pull America into a war, then it is a given that Iran will be crushed," katanya.
Levy menilai kegagalan prediksi Israel berakar dari cara pandang dan arogansi internal. "The assumption itself is infused with colonial racism and Israeli hubris," kritiknya.
Menurutnya, Israel tidak pernah memperhitungkan kemampuan diplomasi dan posisi tawar Teheran. "The notion that Iran could possibly outsmart, out-strategise, and gain leverage was not on the agenda," cetusnya.
Pengamat eksternal Ahron Bregman menilai perang tiga setengah bulan ini justru memperkuat posisi rezim radikal di Teheran. "Netanyahu inflicted on Israel a strategic catastrophe," katanya.
Bregman memprediksi Lebanon akan kembali menjadi pemantik konflik.
"He initiated a war with Iran which aimed to topple its regime, but the regime is still standing and it is [more] radical than before.
Iran will rebuild its missile arsenal. Lebanon will be the spark," ujarnya.
