As a result, Israel haters have tons of sources for their assertions that Israel is on the brink, that Israelis are turning against each other, and that it cannot survive.

They’ve been saying this consistently for 77 years, even as Israel has built itself up from nothing int a regional superpower with an economy that has been growing at rates that most countries can only dream of.

Israel’s enemies, on the other hand, see self-criticism as a weakness – it is a source of shame to have anyone publicly contradict what the government says. So their confident assertions of strength and unity are rarely challenged.

Antisemites naturally love hearing that Israel’s enemies are strong, steadfast and solid, while Israel is fractious and weak, but it is precisely Israel’s willingness to self-criticize that makes it strong. 

It shows a willingness to debate ideas that are frightening, to imagine nightmare scenarios and make contingency plans on top of other contingency plans.

And too often, Israel’s neighbors believe their own lies.

Everyone was shocked at the rapid fall of Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria. That is because Syria would not let anyone from the West see anything but how powerful the regime was.

Hezbollah’s strength was concentrated on the brilliance and charisma of Hassan Nasrallah. 

Once he was eliminated, the entire organization – which was reeling but still largely whole after the pager attacks – unraveled.

Iran is no different. 

It is somewhat more willing to admit setbacks than Hamas, for example, but as we are seeing, it cannot defend itself from a nation that is a thousand miles away. 

Perhaps its army is still effective, but it is sidelined.

More importantly, the constant emphasis that Iran was invincible and Israel was weak and that has the “curse of the eighth decade”  has been believed by their own leadership. Since they do not allow dissent, they cannot have serious debate – and debate and self-criticism is what makes a nation strong.

There are reports that rich Iranians are chartering private jets and leaving despite commercial aviation being shut down. This is what happened in the “nakba” – prominent Palestinian Arabs left first, leaving the rest without role models and leaders and collapsing self-confidence. 

It also happened very quickly in Syria as soldiers abandoned their posts rather than face a real enemy, Israel’s incredible military gains in so short a time is having a profound psychological effect.

But the psychological effect is twofold. It is more than a simple military setback – it is a realization that the belief system that propped up the regime was all an illusion. When that happens, self-preservation starts to trump patriotism.

When Iran accuses Israel of being weaker than a spider’s web, they were really projecting their own deep fears about themselves. Their responses to Israel’s attacks – claiming shooting down planes and capturing pilots and that apartment buildings in Israel are military targets – show that their main remaining weapons are lies.

Iranians are seeing that their leaders couldn’t even protect themselves. How can they be expected to take care of their own people?

Maybe I’m wrong, but unless the West successfully pressures Israel to stop the campaign before it is done, and if the people of Iran start to organize and protest, I think that regime change can happen sooner than people think.

PHOTO: Use according to Section 27 A