Why soaring Israeli morale over the war on Iran exposes deeper delusion Submitted by Antony Loewenstein on Tue, 03/17/2026 - 09:42 As the weapons industry celebrates and polls show renewed public optimism, Israel's aggression across the region reveals an addiction to violence that no military victory can cure An Israeli self-propelled howitzer fires towards southern Lebanon from a position in upper Galilee, northern Israel, on 15 March 2026 (Odd Andersen/AFP) Off Who's excited about the US and Israeli war on Iran? As the Middle East is on fire, from Tehran to Manama, the Israeli weapons industry is licking its lips at the prospect of future sales to the Gulf states, many of which have recently taken direct hits from Iranian missiles and drones. The Israeli defence sector has seen the vulnerabilities of Gulf nations and wants to rush in to exploit them. "We have to honestly admit that, from the narrow Israeli perspective, the situation is not bad for us right now," a former senior defence official told the Israeli business outlet Calcalist. The paper said that this man will travel to the Gulf after the war is over to sell new defence systems, missile defence shields and other weapons to war-weary Gulf governments. Israeli air defence systems have been deployed by Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan in this war. Nowhere in these stories is it acknowledged, or even discussed, that nations like the UAE have made themselves almost completely dependent on Washington and Tel Aviv - and the last weeks have revealed the folly of this decision. "It's going to be a bonanza for all intents and purposes," another Israeli defence official said. There's been almost unanimous backing for Israel's genocide in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank. Dissent is rare This optimism is warranted. Israel is now the seventh-biggest arms exporter on the planet. According to new data from the Stockholm Internationa