Dubai ¨C If the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran ended tomorrow, one verdict is already clear: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would walk away stronger, while U.S. President Donald Trump would be left to manage the shock to global markets and to Persian Gulf allies who have borne the heaviest costs.

For Netanyahu, analysts say, the war has redrawn Israel¡¯s political map on his terms, pivoting attention away from Gaza and toward Iran, where national consensus is strongest and his security and economic credentials resonate most.

For Trump, it has done the reverse: trapping him in a conflict with no clear exit, exposing his Gulf Arab allies to spiraling risks, and undercutting the economic storyline that powered his return to office.

¡°There is a clear winner and a clear loser,¡± ?said Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. Middle East negotiator. ¡°Netanyahu is by far the key winner. He has demonstrated Israel¡¯s military competence. The Gulf states are by far the biggest losers.¡±

For Trump, Miller said, there is no ?off-ramp ?that would allow him to declare victory and walk away.

Trump, who demanded Iran¡¯s unconditional surrender, expected to find an Iranian Delcy Rodriguez, a pliant Venezuelan-style power broker, said Iran expert ?Karim Sadjadpour, but instead ¡°found an Iranian Kim Jong Un,¡± invoking North Korea¡¯s defiant authoritarian model.

Unlike in Washington, the war against Iran is widely seen in Israel not as a war of choice, but as a war of necessity, said Natan Sacks, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. ¡°Even if regime change doesn¡¯t happen,¡± Sacks said, ¡°weakening Iran and the (militia) axis it leads is a huge goal for Netanyahu.¡±

Israeli officials say the air ?war has been broadly divided, with Israel focusing on western and northern Iran, attacking ballistic missile and nuclear sites, while the U.S. concentrates on the east and south, including the Strait of Hormuz, to weaken Iran¡¯s naval capabilities.

Israel has led the killings of ?Iran¡¯s senior leadership, officials say, including security chief Ali Larijani on Tuesday and Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib on Wednesday. Defense Minister Israel Katz said he and Netanyahu had authorized the military to strike any senior Iranian official it can locate, without requiring further approval.

Those gains, however, have not brought the war closer to an end. Trump is left with three bad choices: prolong the strikes, declare victory and ?hope Tehran stands down, or escalate dramatically ¡ª none of which offers a clear off-ramp, ?the analysts said.

The White House, the U.S. State Department and Netanyahu¡¯s office did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

U.S. intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard told Congress on Wednesday that while Iran¡¯s government has been weakened since the war began,...