Netanyahu and the Axes of Illusion: When Rhetoric Becomes an Admission of Political Impasse

Muhi Al-Din Ghunaim
In a new statement reflecting the depth of turbulence within the Israeli political scene, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he is working on forming a “new axis” to confront what he described as the “collapsed Shiite axis” and the “emerging Sunni axis.” The remark carries a significant degree of propagandistic simplification and appears to be an attempt to reengineer regional reality through a political narrative that serves an internal impasse more than it reflects a genuine balance of power in the region.
The claim of the “collapse” of the so-called Shiite axis does not rest on an objective reading of the balance of power, but rather on a political desire to portray adversaries as being in a state of comprehensive disintegration. While this axis undoubtedly faces internal and regional challenges, it still possesses military and political instruments of influence extending from Tehran to Beirut, passing through Baghdad, Damascus, and Sana’a. Transformations do not necessarily signify collapse, and tactical setbacks do not equate to strategic defeat. It is a grave political mistake to build strategies on wishful thinking rather than on realistic assessments.
As for the notion of an “emerging Sunni axis,” it too represents a simplistic characterization of a complex Arab reality. Arab states do not operate solely according to sectarian considerations, but rather based on national interests, national security priorities, and careful political and economic calculations. Attempting to classify the region within a binary framework of “Shiite versus Sunni” reflects an outdated divisive vision—one that experience has shown brings nothing but further instability. The region today seeks stability and development, not new sectarian alignments.
If Netanyahu speaks of a new axis, the fundamental question remains: is the objective to enhance collective security, or to reproduce a policy of perpetual polarization?
Recent history demonstrates that confrontational axis-building has not produced sustainable stability, but rather recurring cycles of escalation. The region does not need an “axis against an axis,” but an approach grounded in respect for state sovereignty, adherence to international law, and the rejection of imposing realities by force.
These statements cannot be separated from the Israeli domestic context, where Netanyahu faces unprecedented political and judicial pressures. In such circumstances, sharp external rhetoric is often employed as a tool to consolidate internal ranks and divert attention from domestic crises.
When rhetoric reaches the point of redrawing regional alignments along sectarian lines, it reflects not strategic strength but clear political disorientation. The region is not a chessboard to be reshaped according to rhetorical ambitions. Talk of collapses and new axes may serve short-term mobilization, but it does not withstand the test of reality.
Axes are not built by slogans, nor do they collapse by declarations. Sound policy is not founded on dividing the region into sectarian camps, but on recognizing its complexity and striving for balances that respect the interests of all parties.
Exaggerating the portrayal of adversaries as defeated, and seeking to construct new confrontational fronts, may ultimately signal that the one issuing such statements is the very party experiencing a genuine political impasse—one he attempts to obscure with the noise of axes.
The author is from Jordan.