Israel Says No to Ground Troops in Iran — But the War It Helped Start Is Far From Over

On March 30, 2026 — Day 31 of the US-Israeli air campaign against Iran — Israeli media outlet Channel 12 reported what many analysts had expected: "In case of a US ground operation in Iran, Israeli soldiers will not be participating on the ground" [1]. The statement was unambiguous. But it landed in the middle of a conflict that Israel helped initiate, one where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself has acknowledged that air power alone cannot achieve the war's most ambitious goal.

"You can't do revolutions from the air, that is true," Netanyahu said at a March 19 press conference in Jerusalem. "There has to be a ground component, as well" [2]. He declined to specify what that ground component might look like, saying only that "there are many possibilities."

The gap between that rhetoric and Israel's refusal to supply the troops raises a set of hard questions — about burden-sharing, about the nature of the US-Israeli relationship, and about what this war can actually accomplish.

A Precedent With Deep Roots

Israel has never contributed ground forces to a US-led military operation. This is not a break with precedent; it is the precedent.

During the 1991 Gulf War, the United States actively worked to keep Israel out of the coalition. When Iraq launched Scud missiles at Israeli cities, Washington deployed Patriot missile batteries to Israel and pressured the Israeli government not to retaliate [3]. The concern was straightforward: Israeli participation would fracture the US-Arab coalition that included Syria, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Israel absorbed 39 Scud strikes without firing back [3].

In the 2003 Iraq War and its aftermath, Israel's contributions were indirect but significant. Israeli urban warfare specialists trained US Special Forces at Fort Bragg. Israeli advisers helped arm and train Kurdish militias in northern Iraq, provided advice on checkpoint operations and mine-clearing, and assisted at US interrogation centers near Baghdad [4]. Israeli-designed conformal fuel tanks extended the range of F-15 bombers used in the coalition's air campaign [4]. None of this involved Israeli boots on the ground in a combat role.

The pattern is consistent across decades: Israel provides intelligence, technology, training, and indirect operational support. It does not deploy ground troops alongside US forces. The 2026 refusal follows this established norm rather than departing from it.

What Israel Is Contributing

The current war, which began on February 28, 2026, is formally designated Operation Epic Fury on the US side [5]. Israel's contributions, while excluding ground troops, are substantial.

Israel's multi-layered air defense system — Iron Dome, David's Sling, and Arrow — has intercepted more than 92% of the approximately 400 ballistic missiles Iran has fired at Israeli territory during the current conflict [6]. This defensive capacity protects not only Israeli civilians but also US assets operating from Israeli territory and airspace.

Israeli intelligence-sharing with US Central Command has been described by military analysts as the backbone of target selection for strikes against Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile infrastructure [5]. The IDF has conducted its own airstrikes against Iranian targets and has been authorized to carry out targeted assassinations of senior Iranian and Hezbollah figures without the usual prior approval process [7].

A Raytheon-Rafael joint venture secured a $1.25 billion contract in November 2025 to supply Israel with Tamir interceptors built in Arkansas — an indication of the scale of missile defense consumption [6]. The operational significance of Israel's air defense umbrella and intelligence infrastructure is difficult to quantify in dollar terms, but military planners view it as more operationally critical than a ground troop contribution would be for the current air-focused campaign.

The Scale of What a Ground War Would Face

The question of ground operations is not hypothetical. The Pentagon is preparing plans for limited ground operations in Iran, including potential raids on Kharg Island — through which roughly 90% of Iran's oil exports flow — and coastal sites near the Strait of Hormuz [8]. These plans involve the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, two Marine Expeditionary Units, and special operations forces [8]. President Trump has not approved any ground operation as of March 30 [8].

Iran's military presents a formidable ground challenge. The regular armed forces number approximately 420,000 active personnel, including 350,000 in the ground forces (220,000 of them conscripts) [9]. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps adds another 190,000 across its ground forces, navy, aerospace, and Quds Force branches [9]. The IRGC ground forces alone account for more than 150,000 troops [9]. Including reserves and trained mobilizable personnel, Iran's total military manpower reaches approximately 920,000 [9].

Source: IISS / DIA

Data as of Mar 1, 2026CSV

Beyond conventional forces, Iran's proxy network presents additional challenges. Hezbollah has already entered the war, firing rockets and missiles at Israel following the killing of Ayatollah Khamenei [10]. Houthi forces in Yemen have attacked a US base in Saudi Arabia, injuring over a dozen American soldiers [11]. Iraqi militia groups aligned with Iran remain active across the region.

Retired General Joseph Votel, former commander of US Central Command, warned that US forces sent into mainland Iran "would get swallowed up pretty quickly" [12]. Votel described even a limited operation as something that "wouldn't be done in a single period of darkness" and would "probably take some time" [12]. Christine Wormuth, president of the Nuclear Threat Initiative and former Army Secretary, called a ground operation "a very complex, high-risk operation" [12].

Retired Lt. Gen. Karen Gibson, former CENTCOM intelligence director, assessed that the most likely scenario would be "some kind of amphibious operation" targeting islands in the Strait of Hormuz — "exactly the kind of mission that the Marine Corps was designed to do" — rather than a mainland invasion [12]. Even at Kharg Island, located just 12 miles from the Iranian coast, US forces would face drone and missile threats from the mainland [12].

The Domestic Politics Behind the Decision

Israeli public opinion on the war itself is overwhelmingly supportive. An Israel Democracy Institute survey taken in the war's first week showed 82% of Israelis overall — and 93% of Jewish Israelis — supporting the campaign [13]. A subsequent Channel 12 poll found 66% satisfied with the war's achievements, including 55% of voters who oppose Netanyahu [13].

But support for the air campaign is not the same as willingness to send Israeli soldiers into Iran. Israel is already managing active operations in Gaza, a renewed conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon following the collapse of a March 2 ceasefire, and ongoing security operations in the West Bank [14]. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir warned during a security cabinet meeting that the military will "collapse in on itself" under mounting operational demands and a growing manpower shortage [14]. The IDF has called for new conscription legislation, a reserve duty law, and extended mandatory service [14].

In this context, committing ground forces to a US operation in Iran would strain an already overstretched military to the breaking point. Opposition leader Yair Lapid has suspended motions of no confidence during what he calls a "just war," but that political truce is premised on the current operational scope [13]. Expanding Israel's role to include ground casualties in Iran could fracture the domestic consensus.

Netanyahu's political calculus is also a factor. Critics note that wartime conditions make it difficult to hold elections and provide reason to postpone votes where polling suggests Netanyahu might not prevail [13]. Expanding the war's human cost to include Israeli ground troops dying in Iran would undermine the "deluxe war" framing — a term used in Israeli media to describe a campaign that, for Israelis, has so far been primarily experienced through air defense systems rather than body bags [13].

American Public Opinion: A Bipartisan Reluctance

US public opinion on ground troops is even more resistant. A Quinnipiac University poll conducted March 6–8, 2026, found that 74% of registered voters oppose sending ground troops to Iran, while just 20% support it [15]. Even among Republicans, the party most supportive of the overall military action, a majority — 52% — oppose ground troops, with only 37% in favor [15]. Among Democrats, opposition runs at 95%; among independents, 75% [15].

Source: Quinnipiac University Poll

Data as of Mar 9, 2026CSV

The broader military action itself lacks majority support: 53% of voters oppose it, while 40% support it [15]. A majority — 55% — believe Iran did not pose an imminent threat before the strikes began [15]. And 71% of respondents expect the conflict to last months or longer [15].

These numbers represent a significant political constraint on any escalation to ground operations, regardless of Pentagon planning.

Gulf States: Inching Toward Involvement, Short of Combat

The US has turned to Gulf allies to fill operational gaps. Saudi Arabia reversed an earlier position and granted access to King Fahd Air Base in Taif, located farther from Iranian drone range than Prince Sultan Air Base, which has come under repeated Iranian attack [16]. The UAE hosts Al-Dhafra airbase, where F-22 Raptor stealth fighters and surveillance aircraft operate, and secured an $8.4 billion US arms deal for drones, missiles, radar systems, and F-16 aircraft [17]. Kuwait's Camp Arifjan serves as the primary US logistics hub, supported by an $8 billion arms deal for air and missile defense [17]. Bahrain hosts the US Navy's Fifth Fleet at Naval Support Activity Bahrain [17].

Pakistan has stationed 1,500 to 2,000 troops at Prince Sultan Air Base under a mutual defense pact signed in September 2025, though the extent of Pakistan's willingness to intervene in direct combat remains unclear [17].

None of these countries have committed ground troops for operations inside Iran. Their exposure to Iranian retaliation — Saudi Arabia's Prince Sultan Air Base has already been attacked, and Houthi strikes have hit US personnel on Saudi soil [11] — makes direct participation a more consequential decision than Israel's refusal, given their geographic proximity and vulnerability to Iranian conventional and proxy attacks.

The Legal Framework: No Treaty, No Obligation

The US-Israel military relationship, despite its depth and scale, rests on no mutual defense treaty. Unlike NATO allies bound by Article 5, or Japan and South Korea under their respective security treaties, Israel's relationship with the United States operates through Memoranda of Understanding, defense cooperation laws, and annual aid packages [18].

The current 2016 MOU provides approximately $3.8 billion annually in Foreign Military Financing plus $500 million for missile defense, totaling roughly $38 billion over a decade [18]. These are policy instruments, not automatic defense guarantees. As Liron Libman, former chief military prosecutor of the IDF, has noted, even formal defense treaties use language like "such action as it deems necessary" — wording that preserves each party's discretion about military response levels and creates no automatic ground troop commitment [19].

The absence of a formal treaty means Israel's refusal to commit ground troops creates no legal breach and, in the assessment of most analysts, no meaningful alliance credibility gap. The relationship has functioned for decades precisely through this division of labor: US financial and military support, Israeli intelligence and regional operational capability, with each party retaining sovereignty over its own force deployments.

The Case Against Ground Operations

A coalition of voices — spanning retired US generals, Israeli security officials, and regional analysts — has argued that ground operations would be counterproductive regardless of Israeli participation.

Votel's assessment that forces would be "swallowed up" on mainland Iran reflects a broader military consensus about the asymmetric challenges of operating inside Iranian territory [12]. The collapsed US-Israeli plan to use Kurdish militia forces as a proxy invasion force — abandoned after media leaks, allied lobbying, and Kurdish reluctance — illustrates the difficulty of finding any viable ground component [20].

Matt Gaetz, a Republican congressman and former Trump ally, publicly warned against a ground invasion, reflecting a strain of opposition within Trump's own political base [21]. A Quinnipiac poll found 62% of voters believe the administration has not provided a clear explanation for the military action [15].

Iran's parliament speaker has stated that Iranian forces are "waiting" for a US ground invasion [14] — language that suggests Tehran views a ground war as advantageous terrain for its defensive strategy, which relies on asymmetric warfare, terrain knowledge, and the ability to absorb and extend a conflict.

Second-Order Risks for Israel

Even without committing ground troops, Israel faces escalating consequences from the war it helped launch. Iran has fired hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles at Israeli territory, with debris from a missile attack damaging the Old City of Jerusalem — including areas near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Jewish Quarter [22]. A strike on a residential area in Beit Shemesh killed nine civilians [22].

Hezbollah's entry into the war has opened a second active front, with more than 1,000 militants and civilians killed in the renewed Lebanon conflict by late March [10]. Iran has threatened to shut the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of global oil shipments transit, and has laid at least a dozen mines in the waterway [23]. Oil prices have risen, shipping has been disrupted, and regional energy production has been cut [22].

The strain on Israel's air defense interceptor stockpiles is a quantifiable concern. Iran launched more than 500 ballistic missiles at Israel during the June 2025 Twelve-Day War alone [6]. The current conflict has added hundreds more. Each Tamir interceptor costs approximately $50,000, and Israel's dependency on US-manufactured components creates a supply chain vulnerability that deepens with every salvo.

Where This Leaves the War

One month into Operation Epic Fury, the air campaign has, by Netanyahu's own account, significantly degraded Iran's nuclear enrichment and ballistic missile capabilities [24]. But the war's stated and unstated objectives — from denuclearization to regime change — require outcomes that air power alone has historically failed to deliver.

Israel's refusal to send ground troops is consistent with 75 years of military relationship norms. It reflects genuine operational constraints — an IDF stretched across multiple theaters with a shrinking manpower base. And it reflects a political reality: Israeli society supports this war as long as the costs remain manageable.

The question now is whether the United States can find any partner willing to supply the ground component that its own public overwhelmingly rejects, that its military commanders describe as high-risk, and that its closest regional ally has flatly declined to provide. The Pentagon's planning continues. The political math has not changed.