Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt examine Israel’s role in the Iran war and the wider regional crisis -- and revisit their most controversial argument in 2006 about the lobby shaping U.S. foreign policy.

Did President Trump enter this war on his own terms, or under pressure from Israel and its allies in Washington? In a striking resignation letter, former U.S. counterterrorism official Joe Kent argued that Iran posed no imminent threat, and that the conflict was driven in part by external pressure. This raises a deeper question: if Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu helped draw the United States into the conflict, can he prevent Washington from stepping back? And what happens if Israel continues the war alone?

At the same time, Israel faces mounting strain at home. With warnings from its own military leadership about manpower shortages, the longer-term sustainability of the war is increasingly in doubt.

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Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.