Quite the introduction of Isaac Herzog by Chatham House chief executive @bronwenmaddox 👇xitter.cf/hippyygoat/status/1966… Which shows the extent to which Israel, despite some tactical victories, is in fact suffering a larger strategic defeat: they're seen as a pariah state even within the heart of their Western allies' establishment (which Chatham House very much is). "Big deal", you'll say, but it actually matters and Israel knows it: why do you think the country's president submit himself to such an uncomfortable exercise if he thought it didn't? At the end of the day we're a species driven by narratives - perception is reality - and there are plenty of historical examples (South Africa, Rhodesia, Serbia, etc.) where reputational collapse preceded, and drove, actual collapse. The distance from "pariah state" to "former state" is shorter than most realize, and even if Israel avoids that fate, pariah status is deeply corrosive from within - you end up "winning" yourself into a kind of toxic prison.