U.S. President Donald Trump has no problem inventing an imaginary reality, spreading baseless assessments, lying, and then performing a backflip to retract all his declarations, statements, and falsehoods. He proved this prior to the war with Iran in June 2025 and continues to prove it repeatedly since the start of the current war against Iran, which today marks its thirteenth day with no end in sight.

One of the most prominent lies from Trump regarding the war in Iran is encapsulated in the word OBLITERATED. This is what Trump claimed regarding the Iranian nuclear program at the end of the previous war, which lasted 12 days, a war he himself decided to end, even forcing the Israeli Prime Minister to order a halt to the strikes.

Trump was referring to the Israeli and American Air Force strikes on the uranium enrichment sites at Natanz and Fordow, and the nuclear complex in Isfahan, which houses a small research reactor and a uranium conversion plant. In Isfahan, approximately 480 kg of 60% enriched uranium were stored, material that can be enriched to 93% (weapons-grade fissile material) in a short span of just a few weeks.

Trump’s definitive declaration completely contradicted the assessments of the American intelligence community, but the U.S. President ignored them and aggressively silenced them. His secretary of "War," Pete Hegseth, even fired the head of the Pentagon's intelligence agency because of this.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also leading the Israeli public into a false mirage. After the first Iran war, he called it a "historical victory" and claimed the achievement would "stand for generations," protecting Israel from nuclear and missile threats. Netanyahu declared that during the 12 days of fighting, Israel removed two immediate existential threats — the nuclear and the ballistic. The current war proves that this achievement did not stand for generations; it barely lasted eight months.

It is clear that the 60% enriched uranium was indeed not destroyed, as American intelligence had estimated. It is buried deep underground beneath the ruins of the complex, undamaged. The existence of this material proves that the nuclear program was not "obliterated" and continues to exist, though it has undoubtedly suffered and continues to suffer heavy blows.

The statements by Trump and Netanyahu regarding the Iranian nuclear program are riddled with deceit. Days before the war in June, Trump claimed Iran was weeks away from an atomic bomb. This statement contradicted the March 2025 finding by Tulsi Gabbard, whom Trump appointed as Director of National Intelligence.

In her Congressional testimony, Gabbard, a staunch Trumpist estimated that Iran "is not building a nuclear weapon, and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003." Trump announced that Gabbard, who was providing the U.S. intelligence community's assessment, was wrong, and forced her to recant.

For Netanyahu, claims about the short time it will take the Iranians to reach a bomb have been a routine occurrence for over 30 years. Trump and Netanyahu are repeating this claim now, that Iran has come within weeks of the ability to assemble a nuclear weapon, using it to justify the current war, even though it still has no intelligence corroboration.

The U.S. President also periodically changes the definitions of the war's goals. In addition to removing the nuclear threat, he said in his address to the nation on February 24 (four days before the war began) that Iran is "working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States." In reality, experts believe Iran is very far from the capability to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that could reach the American mainland anytime soon.

And another lie from Netanyahu: he boasted that by launching the current campaign, Israel is removing a future threat in which Iran would have 20,000 ballistic missiles. According to assessments, Iran had between 1,500 and 2,000 missiles on the eve of the current campaign. To reach an arsenal of 20,000 would require at least a decade.

One cannot treat this numbers game lightly. There is a difference between being weeks away from a bomb and being years or even months away. There is a difference between 2,000 missiles and 20,000, just as there is a difference between damaging a nuclear program and its total destruction. Based on this false rhetoric, massive budgets are diverted, wars are launched, and human lives are sacrificed.

A ballistic missile hit kibbutz Masada, March 1, 2026 (Photo: Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

For the first time since the war began, Hezbollah fired long-range missiles at central Israel. Until now, most of its fire consisted of launching UAVs toward northern settlements, Haifa, and the Krayot.

Hezbollah’s ability coordinated with Iran, to operate with its current intensity is a major surprise that caught Israeli intelligence off guard. Less than a year and a half ago, the defense establishment boasted that they had dealt an especially crushing blow to the Lebanese Shiite organization’s military capabilities, severed its military leadership, and neutralized its command-and-control systems.

Furthermore, after the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s charismatic and powerful Secretary-General, the IDF, the Mossad, the political echelon, and the TV studios belittled his successor, Naim Qassem, saying he was weak and lacked military knowledge or leadership skills.

Apparently, they were wrong again. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and Chief of Staff Lt.-General Eyal Zamir argue that the campaign is long and will continue for weeks, calling on the public to remain resilient. Resilience is indeed required, but does the public rushing to its shelters a few times a day and night, have any other choice?

But why should we believe the military and political leadership again? They broadcast confidence and spread promises of victory, yet again unashamed to use that word. They promised "absolute victory" in Gaza over Hamas and even declared it achieved, yet Hamas is still standing. They promised victory over Hezbollah and announced it was achieved, yet Hezbollah is targeting Tel Aviv. They promised a "victory for generations" over Iran in the previous campaign, yet here we are in the shelters again.

Israel is sliding into a war of attrition on two fronts. At most, it will emerge with the feeling that it managed to strike Iran and Hezbollah hard once more — until the next round. Instead of the "rounds" policy we knew over the last decade against Hamas, we are getting a policy of rounds against Iran and Hezbollah. Only this time, the entire country is in the line of fire. To call this a victory is a mockery of the truth.

This article was published in Hebrew on March 9, 2026