All the way back in 2019, Benjamin Netanyahu became Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. In the past year, since assuming his nation’s highest office for the third time, he has cemented his reputation as Israel’s worst prime minister. And now, by picking a needless and reckless fight with President Biden, Israel’s closet ally, he is only compounding the damage that he is doing to his own country.
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A quick recap for those who have not been watching the long-running “Bibi” show closely: Netanyahu returned to the prime minister’s office last December while battling corruption charges. In fact, the case against him continues today. To win power, he made common cause with ultraright parties led by the likes of Itamar Ben Gvir, who had been previously convicted of supporting a terrorist organization, and Bezalel Smotrich, a self-described “fascist homophobe.”
Once in office, Netanyahu immediately launched an effort to neuter Israel’s Supreme Court, which was widely seen as an attempt by him to escape his criminal case and by his far-right allies to expand West Bank settlements and to impose their religious agenda on secular Israelis. The result was massive protests and a refusal by many military reservists to serve, leading Israeli intelligence to warn Netanyahu last summer that Israel’s deterrence against its enemies was eroding.
Netanyahu ignored those general warnings — as well as more specific information that Israeli intelligence had obtained about an ambitious Hamas plan to attack Israel. Instead, he continued a cynical policy of supporting Qatari payments to Hamas to “buy quiet” and to foster divisions among Palestinians so as to stymie the emergence of a Palestinian state.
The bankruptcy of Bibi’s policy was painfully revealed on Oct. 7 when Israel suffered the worst one-day attack in its history. Netanyahu allowed this calamity to occur and was slow to respond even as Hamas terrorists were killing 1,200 Israelis and kidnapping hundreds more. Now he seems to be intent on compounding the damage by picking a fight with America’s ardently pro-Zionist president.
Biden has resisted growing criticism of Israel among Democrats (in one recent survey, only 18 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning respondents said Israel was taking the right approach in Gaza) to staunchly support the Jewish state. Biden has resisted calls by leading Democrats to attach conditions, such as reducing civilian casualties in Gaza and ending the expansion of West Bank settlements, on aid to Israel. The administration just bypassed Congress to send Israel 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition, and it just vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution (supported by 13 of 15 Security Council members) demanding an immediate Israeli cease-fire.
While publicly backing Israel, Biden has tried to work behind the scenes to convince Netanyahu to be more discriminate in the use of firepower in Gaza, to curb settler violence in the West Bank and to plan for the Palestinian Authority (PA) to take charge of Gaza after Hamas is defeated. Yet Netanyahu doesn’t seem to be listening.
Need something to talk about? Text us for thought-provoking opinions that can break any awkward silence.A quick recap for those who have not been watching the long-running “Bibi” show closely: Netanyahu returned to the prime minister’s office last December while battling corruption charges. In fact, the case against him continues today. To win power, he made common cause with ultraright parties led by the likes of Itamar Ben Gvir, who had been previously convicted of supporting a terrorist organization, and Bezalel Smotrich, a self-described “fascist homophobe.”
Once in office, Netanyahu immediately launched an effort to neuter Israel’s Supreme Court, which was widely seen as an attempt by him to escape his criminal case and by his far-right allies to expand West Bank settlements and to impose their religious agenda on secular Israelis. The result was massive protests and a refusal by many military reservists to serve, leading Israeli intelligence to warn Netanyahu last summer that Israel’s deterrence against its enemies was eroding.
Netanyahu ignored those general warnings — as well as more specific information that Israeli intelligence had obtained about an ambitious Hamas plan to attack Israel. Instead, he continued a cynical policy of supporting Qatari payments to Hamas to “buy quiet” and to foster divisions among Palestinians so as to stymie the emergence of a Palestinian state.
The bankruptcy of Bibi’s policy was painfully revealed on Oct. 7 when Israel suffered the worst one-day attack in its history. Netanyahu allowed this calamity to occur and was slow to respond even as Hamas terrorists were killing 1,200 Israelis and kidnapping hundreds more. Now he seems to be intent on compounding the damage by picking a fight with America’s ardently pro-Zionist president.
Biden has resisted growing criticism of Israel among Democrats (in one recent survey, only 18 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning respondents said Israel was taking the right approach in Gaza) to staunchly support the Jewish state. Biden has resisted calls by leading Democrats to attach conditions, such as reducing civilian casualties in Gaza and ending the expansion of West Bank settlements, on aid to Israel. The administration just bypassed Congress to send Israel 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition, and it just vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution (supported by 13 of 15 Security Council members) demanding an immediate Israeli cease-fire.
While publicly backing Israel, Biden has tried to work behind the scenes to convince Netanyahu to be more discriminate in the use of firepower in Gaza, to curb settler violence in the West Bank and to plan for the Palestinian Authority (PA) to take charge of Gaza after Hamas is defeated. Yet Netanyahu doesn’t seem to be listening.
