Netanyahu is running out of road
And that makes him even more desperate and dangerous
Besties back then but what about now?
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, has carved out a long and incredibly successful career as a hate monger, liar and survivor of every attempt to bring him down demonstrating cockroach-like abilities of survival. But cockroaches are not immortal.
Indeed there are mounting signs that Israel’s Great Survivor has become more vulnerable than ever before. This vulnerability, which he would brush aside, is nevertheless playing out in full view as Mr. Netanyahu lashes out against his enemies and, more tellingly, against friends who have the temerity to question him.
The leaders of Britain, France and Canada are far from being Israel’s enemies, indeed they have consistently shown constraint while others have been much more forthright condemning the Netanyahu government for its rampage in Gaza. But as the killings have mounted, destruction turned the territory into a dystopian nightmare and an aid blockade is leading to famine, they decided to act by calling for a halt to the Gaza offensive and the lifting of restrictions on humanitarian aid.
Benjamin Netanyahu was enraged, first in an almost routine manner, damning Prime Minister Starmer and Carney and President Macron for daring to suggest such a thing but the rage then turned into something else.
An angry Netanyahu is not a pleasant sight as his domestic opponents know full well. They have long become accustomed to being castigated as traitors and worse. But Israel’s long times allies overseas have either not witnessed these tantrums or chosen to ignore them.
They most certainly did not expect that the fallout from the murder in Washington of two young Israeli diplomats would result in Israel’s Prime Minister accusing them of facilitating these murders by emboldening Hamas. Here is just part of this tirade: ‘I say to President Macron, prime minister Carney and prime minister Starmer, when mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers thank you, you’re on the wrong side of justice.’
Nor is it even vaguely acceptable for a delegation of diplomats visiting the West Bank to be forced to abandon their fact finding mission after dodging warning shots from the Israeli army.
By any standards this unprecedented action and the extraordinary accusation against the three leaders moves an already isolated Israel further into the wilderness.
But Mr. Netanyahu is less free to castigate the United States, which arms Israel to the teeth, has consistently provided diplomatic support and props up the economy in a myriad of ways. Yet the Israeli premier made no secret of his dislike for former President Joe Biden, despite the fact he has spent most of his very long political career as an ardent supporter of the Jewish State. Mr. Biden found Mr. Netanyahu hard to stomach and failed to jump every time a new demand was made in Jerusalem. So, both behind the scenes and in front of the cameras, Mr. Netanyahu did his best to secure his replacement by Donald Trump.
No one was more delighted by this outcome, which was seen by Mr. Netanyahu as giving him a free hand to do his worst.
Trump and Netanyahu appear to be kindred spirits. They have much in common, perhaps too much, because neither of them has eternal friendships nor are they famous for loyalty to friends who dare to criticize.
Mr. Netanyahu’s hubris had led him to believe that President Trump’s backing is unshakable. But it has not taken long for the American President to become exasperated by Mr. Netanyahu. As yet, he does not view it as being expedient to cut him loose but he is playing a bigger game in the Middle East and beginning to see Israel as an obstacle to his wider plans.
Even the Israeli premier must sense the danger that lurks. It adds to what some would describe as paranoia but paranoia cannot be based in fact. And the facts are that Mr. Netanyahu is under fire from every quarter. The mounting pressure from overseas is matched by rising opposition at home. As Israel plunges towards pariah state status in the rest of the world, a majority of Israelis oppose the continuation of the Gaza war, hold him responsible for the deaths of their fellow citizens and want him to go.
Mr. Netanyahu, will not backdown because he faces trial for criminal offenses and the loss of political power if the fighting stops. Keeping him in office is a coalition of his own party tied to messianic warmongers with a bloody thirsty appetite for ‘cleansing’ of Gaza and the expulsion of its Palestinian residents.
As pressure mounts Israel’s Great Survivor is becoming more irritable and more dangerous. Making quite extraordinary accusations against the leaders of friendly states is a sign of incredible weakness not strength.
The price of the Israeli government’s unease is, of course, not being paid overseas but in the tragedy of death, starvation and mutilation of tens of thousands of children, women and men surviving in the hell that Gaza has become. There is no equivalence here but no one can deny the agony of the hostage families in Israel anxiously waiting while other lives are also lost as the war ploughs on.
There is a well-known Israeli expression, יש גבול, which is taken to mean: there is a limit. It is an expression used time and time again in both political and military discourse. Israel’s Prime Minister has not been averse to using it himself but, of course, never in relation to his own reckless and frankly revolting cynicism.
Surely that limit has been reached.