I spent the whole day and evening in front of the television, watching the latest news from Israel and Tehran without interruption. The rapid pace of events reminded me of 1967, when the Six-Day War, also in June, completely changed the Middle Eastern paradigm. Back in those days, I was sitting in front of a Soviet radar screen in a missile division that had been placed on full combat alert in case the USSR got involved in the conflict. Luckily, it didn’t.
Tired of the news, I turned off the TV, headed for the bedroom, got into bed, and almost immediately fell asleep.
And I dream that I’m walking along a rustling ocean surf, and an evening breeze is brushing my face. Suddenly, I tripped over something hard. I bent down and saw a green twist sticking out of the sand. I grabbed it and easily pulled out a metal object that resembled an old oil lamp. It must have spent a long time underwater, as it was covered in barnacles with glittering malachite green in between. I took out a pocketknife and began scraping off the shells to get a better look at my find.
Image created using ChatGPT.
Suddenly, the lamp began to tremble in my hand, and I dropped it onto the sand. From its spout came a swirl of white smoke, which quickly thickened into a fairy-tale genie with a grotesque beard, a turban, baggy pants, and a gold earring.
“Oh, Master,” said the Genie in English, “you have freed me from captivity, and I am ready to grant you one wish—anything you desire. I hear and obey…”
“Well, that’s lucky!” I thought (in my dream, of course), just what we all need right now. I said:
“I have one wish—make it so that Israel defeats Iran today, and that eternal peace comes to Israel.”
“Oh, Master,” the Genie replied sadly, “that’s not one wish, but two—and I can only grant one, and only the first. Eternal peace is beyond my rank. Sorry.”
He plucked three hairs from his beard, tore them into pieces, and muttered: “Poof—puff—alakazam.” Done! Just as you wished, Israel has won. Now I must depart…
“Wait, Genie,” I said (in my dream, of course), “don’t rush off—first tell me, what will happen in those lands after the victory?”
“That I can do with great pleasure. We Genies are fond of talking, especially after long stays in lamps and vessels. Listen well to my words.
Peaceful times will come for Israel, but Iran will remain in turmoil for a long time—torn apart by separatists: Kurds, Azeris, Baluchis, and others. The Taliban and remnants of al-Qaeda will cause trouble. Turks will press in from the north and west to carve off pieces of Iranian territory. Azerbaijan will want to snatch northern Iran. Arab countries, with all their joy and greed, will also move in, especially into neighboring Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.
Some Persians who’ve waited abroad for nearly fifty years will return—not the original exiles, but their children. The late Shah’s son will come from America, the Persian princes and princesses from England—but, Oh, Master, they won’t be able to restore the monarchy. Iranians don’t want new rulers. Nearly half the Persians no longer believe in Allah, Muhammad, or even the coming of the 12th Imam Mahdi, awaited for so long by the Ayatollah. They no longer want to believe in any holy prophet or submit to an ayatollah or a shah. Iranians want to live like people in the West. Or like in Israel. In five years, Iran will stabilize, the turmoil will end, and the country will get back on its feet.
“Don’t forget, Oh, Master, about China. It has long dreamed of building a new “Silk Road” from China to Europe. They want to build a railroad across Central Asia to the ports of Ashdod and Haifa, to avoid shipping through the Suez Canal. Until now, Iran’s hostility toward Israel has greatly interfered with that—but now the path will be open. More than that, China will begin to turn away from Russia; this trade route will open new horizons, and Russia will have no place in it.
“What about Israel—what will it do after the victory?” I asked (in my dream, of course).
“Israel will not stand aside from Iran,” the Genie continued. “It will do everything to turn its worst enemy into a friend—there’ll be enormous business opportunities, which you Jews are so fond of. They’ll start with water desalination—Persians don’t have enough water even to drink, let alone wash. Here, Israel will have great scope. Iranian oil will flow to the global market, and its revenues will be used to pay Israel. Sanctions on Iran will be lifted, and it will trade oil actively, bringing prices down. The whole world will benefit, except Russia. After the victory, all Arab countries will want to be friends and trade with Israel. Israel will become a leading tech hub, with branches in Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Lebanon.
What you call the ‘Abraham Accords’ will become popular among Israel’s former enemies. Oman, Kuwait, and Pakistan will join. All the Shiite militias—like Hezbollah and the Houthis—will weaken and disappear without Iranian support, though small groups may continue terrorizing Israel, Iran, and their allies.
Five years after the victory, Arab countries and Israel will create a military alliance like NATO to defend against possible Turkish or Russian expansion. Iraq will move closer to Arab states, and Syria will sign a peace treaty with Israel and start trading actively.”
“Wait, Genie,” I interrupted (in my dream, of course), “but that’s exactly what my second wish was: ‘eternal peace for Israel.’ So you granted that, too?”
“Oh, Master,” sighed the Genie, “is it appropriate for us to speak of Eternity? There will be peace—but for how long? I do not know. The Middle East has a twisted mentality, ruled not by logic and pragmatism but by emotion and faith. Peace there is always fragile—it can collapse at any moment. So, Master, tell your friends in Israel: don’t lose your grip of reality, and always expect a dagger in the back—from the pretended friends, and even from true ones…”
At that moment, I woke up. My head was spinning. I sat up in bed, stared at the full moon peeking through the window, and thought to myself:
“What kind of silly things one can dream on a midsummer night!”