Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist and a leading voice in the populist conservative movement, reportedly cautioned this week that unconditional support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stated intention to occupy Gaza could pose a serious threat to the future of the “Make America Great Again” political movement.
Netanyahu, in an interview with Fox News, declared his aim of taking “full control” of Gaza, portraying the move as a mission to “liberate” the territory from the grip of Hamas.
His statement comes amid ongoing conflict in the region, with Israel continuing operations against the terror group following last year’s devastating attacks.
But on his influential Bannon’s WarRoom podcast, Bannon pointed to reports of dissent within Israel’s own military leadership.
“The IDF general in charge, the chief of staff, has been so adamant that the IDF regular forces are so tired and beat up from fighting Hezbollah, fighting the Muslim Brotherhood in Hamas, the first part of this war, that they’re saying they’re tired,” Bannon said.
Highlighting the strain on Israel’s forces, Bannon noted that while all members of the Israel Defense Forces are technically volunteers, Netanyahu’s plan would likely require a heavy reliance on reserve troops to serve as an occupying force in Gaza — a move he warned could necessitate substantial American involvement.
The populist strategist, once a key adviser to President Donald J. Trump, drew historical parallels to past foreign entanglements.
“If you’re going to do it this time, you got to finish what you started,” Bannon said. “We can’t have another Persian situation where they start something and they understand to finish it they need us to be the finisher.”
In his view, Netanyahu’s strategy risks repeating mistakes of past interventions, where initial military objectives eventually depended on American manpower and resources to achieve a conclusion.
Bannon expressed skepticism that Israel could sustain such an operation without outside help, raising the specter of U.S. troops once again being deployed into the Middle East.
“They couldn’t even conceive of finishing the Persian situation,” he continued, referring to the lack of long-term strategic success in previous regional conflicts. “And that didn’t even talk about defense of their own people from the ballistic missile capability.”
Bannon described the Gaza conflict as a crisis that has “metastasized over the last two years,” cautioning that deeper U.S. military involvement would be politically disastrous for America’s populist right. “If you start drawing American [troops], if you want to kill the MAGA movement, let’s have American troops go over there as an occupational force,” he warned. “Because this will end in tears, sir.”
Bannon’s remarks underline a growing strain within conservative foreign policy circles, where skepticism toward open-ended overseas commitments has become a defining feature since the Trump presidency.
His warning signals that, for many in the movement, American priorities must remain firmly rooted at home — and any perceived drift toward another Middle East occupation could be a breaking point.
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