Netanyahu, not Zelensky, is bringing the world to the brink of World War III — Phar Kim Beng

JUNE 13 — As dawn broke across Tehran on a Friday — normally a sacred day of prayer and family respite in the Islamic world — the calm was shattered by the sound of explosions. Iran’s state media, often opaque and delayed in its disclosures, confirmed that several locations, including civilian nuclear facilities, had been struck.

The key revelation: the targeted assassination of senior Iranian military personnel, including top commanders from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

The prime suspect and perpetrator? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu.

This latest Israeli military operation — if not outright aggression — was not coordinated with the United States, nor was it welcomed.

In fact, President Donald Trump, who returned to the White House in 2025 amidst widespread controversy, had explicitly warned just weeks earlier that it was Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, through his intransigence in refusing to negotiate with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who was “bringing the world to the edge of World War III.” Flanked by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump made this assertion in April 2025, casting blame on Ukraine for prolonging a war that has devastated Europe’s eastern flank.

But the detonation in Tehran today has made one thing abundantly clear: the global fuse was not lit in Kyiv. It is being held — and lit — by the hands of Benjamin Netanyahu and his ultra ilks.

Netanyahu’s decision to strike Iran, on a day so symbolically loaded with religious significance, not only risks igniting another front in an already combustible Middle East, it also imperils the precarious diplomacy that Trump has painstakingly tried to preserve, especially among Sunni Arab monarchies. By choosing Friday, a day of unity for both Sunni and Shia Muslims, Netanyahu has poured gasoline onto the already-scorched earth of sectarian tensions.

More dangerously, Netanyahu’s provocation has come without a formal rebuke from the United States. Although Trump was quick to claim that Washington does not support the strikes, he stopped short of condemning Israel.

There has been no denouncement of Netanyahu’s recklessness, nor of the systemic corruption and cronyism surrounding his inner circle — including his wife, Sara Netanyahu, whose own scandals have contributed to one of the most contentious premierships in Israeli history. That silence is deafening.

Despite his second-term rhetoric on “America First,” Trump now finds himself caught in a bind. If he backs Netanyahu, he risks losing the hard-won strategic trust of Gulf leaders such as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed of the UAE. All three leaders have repeatedly signaLled that de-escalation and economic cooperation — not more conflict — are the pillars of their future. Israel’s actions have just upended those delicate calculations.

Indeed, Netanyahu’s manoeuvre is less about national security and more about political survival. Long before Hamas’ attacks on October 7, 2023, Netanyahu was deeply unpopular, marred by corruption charges and domestic protests that spanned across Israeli society — from tech sector workers to army reservists. His attempts to overhaul the judiciary and weaken the rule of law were met with mass demonstrations, including some of the largest in Israeli history. His coalition, propped up by ultra-right religious nationalists, has made him beholden to fringe ideologies that thrive on perpetual conflict.

By provoking Iran, Netanyahu accomplishes several short-term objectives: he diverts domestic attention from his crumbling legitimacy, consolidates his grip on a fragmented Israeli government, and forces Trump’s hand in a Middle East he would rather sidestep. It is a classic bait-and-switch, designed not for long-term strategy but for momentary political reprieve. But the global costs of this gambit could be staggering.

If Iran retaliates — and history suggests it likely will — the Middle East could spiral into a conflagration unseen since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Already, Iranian proxies in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen are poised to respond. The Houthis, emboldened by their own recent confrontations in the Red Sea, may escalate maritime strikes. Hezbollah could intensify operations along the Lebanese border. And in Iraq, Shia militias may again target US or Gulf installations, just as Tehran signals that it will no longer “exercise restraint.”

Such a regional escalation will not remain confined to the Middle East. Oil markets, already jittery due to Trump’s tariff policies and ongoing disruptions of on again and off again tariff deals with friends and foes alike of the US, especially friends, could react violently.

Brent crude prices are likely to spike — indeed as of 12pm Malaysian time it has gone up by a dramatic 10 per cent according reports from Risk Rating Agencies in Wall Street.

Thus inflation could reignite, and economic recovery from the pandemic-era shocks might stall. For South-east Asia — especially oil-importing nations like Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines — the consequences will be immediate and severe.

Netanyahu’s reckless strategy also threatens to undermine the fragile civilisational diplomacy that has been gathering momentum between the Islamic world and the broader Global South. Initiatives like the Asean-GCC-China Summit, meant to restore harmony and cooperation across civilisations, now risk being drowned in the echoes of fighter jets and missile strikes.

Of course, on the flip side Islam and Confucianism Dialogue must now be easily deterred to encourage peace and more peace while the Middle East and Persia are redolent with the stench of gunpowder.

And then there is Israel itself.

While Netanyahu may wish to project strength, the reality is that his standing within Israel has never been weaker. Public trust in his leadership has eroded. His allies are fewer, his policies more extreme. Poll after poll in Israel shows growing disillusionment with the direction of his government.

The Israeli public — many of whom are still traumatised by the failures that led to October 7, 2023 — may soon reach a tipping point.

If this military gamble fails, or worse, triggers a sustained Iranian response, Netanyahu could be remembered not as Israel’s wartime prime minister, but as the one who dragged his country into a war it cannot afford, and may not survive. To the degree the US needs to rally to Israel’s side, Trump is now an entrapped President and just as embattled.

Ironically, Trump — once described by Netanyahu as the “greatest friend Israel ever had” — now finds himself manipulated, even cornered, by that very friendship. He knows that his re-election was not won to start new wars. American voters, weary of foreign entanglements, will not look kindly on another Middle East quagmire. Should Netanyahu continue down this path, it could fracture the Trump-Netanyahu alliance permanently.

It is no longer possible to blame Zelensky for the world’s drift toward a major global war. The Ukrainian president, however obstinate, was reacting to a direct invasion. Netanyahu, in contrast, has launched a premeditated strike on a sovereign state without provocation, choosing the most sacred of Islamic days to do so, with zero regard for regional or global stability.

As the world watches Tehran smolder, one thing is clear: Netanyahu, not Zelensky, has lit the match closest to the powder keg. If the world is now inching toward World War III, we must be honest about who is dragging us there. And the answer lies not in Kyiv — but in the House of Netanyahu albeit a collapsing one.

Bibi Netanyahu must go into General Election by this year, and he knows he needs to whip up the sentiments of the Israelites to be as hyper ultra nationalistic as him.

* Phar Kim Beng is Professor of Asean Studies at the International Islamic University Malaysia.Professor of Asean Studies, International Islamic University Malaysia

** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.