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Israel's Adversaries Have a Long History of Suffering Defeat and Declaring Victory

(Wall Street Journal) Tevi Troy - Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been issuing victory tweets: "The Zionist regime was practically knocked out and crushed under the blows of the Islamic Republic." "The Islamic Republic delivered a heavy slap to the U.S.'s face." "The Iranian nation is victorious and will remain victorious." This is familiar behavior from Israel's enemies. In the 1967 Six-Day War, Radio Cairo continually claimed that Egypt was defeating Israel even after Israel had destroyed the Egyptian air force. "Our airplanes and our missiles are at this moment shelling all Israel's towns and villages." The false statements had real world effects. Hearing the false reports, Jordan's King Hussein joined the hostilities and lost eastern Jerusalem and the West Bank. In the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Egyptians and Syrians did better at the outset, but after Israeli forces approached the outskirts of Damascus, having already surrounded and cut off Egypt's third army in Sinai, Egypt continued to celebrate its "October victory." President al-Sisi still refers to the anniversary of that war as "a day of pride and victory." The writer is a senior fellow at the Ronald Reagan Institute.
2025-07-03 00:00:00
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