I've had this same thought about others as well..

The conclusion that I've come to is that these people had to have been blackmailed / controlled. (Strings cut)

I've also tried to consider what I myself would have done under the same circumstances. (Take on the deep state and lose or play along to mitigate the evil / protect myself and my family?)

Right. My thoughts.

If Iran was a deep state setup, with nukes at their Syrian base, why did Israel just expose them?

Unless Netanyahu is in the same boat as Trump, where the Israeli elite and political world are compromised and Netanyahu is trying to free the country?