Chris Doyle
For much of the last 14 months, vast numbers of Israeli protesters have congregated to demand the ousting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The latest, which have taken place over the last week, have been some of the largest ever, certainly since Oct. 7. At first, the protests were to defend the independence of Israel’s judiciary, but since the Hamas attacks they have shifted to demanding accountability for all that has happened.
Conventional wisdom has it that, at some point in the coming weeks or months, Netanyahu will be unceremoniously booted out of the Israeli prime minister’s office. Many believe that his next stop will be jail, given the serious charges of corruption and bribery leveled against him. Should that happen, it would be a brutal fall from grace for Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. Should he survive in office, even Niccolo Machiavelli would be in awe.
As ever, Netanyahu is proving tough to shift. He has no sense of shame or embarrassment. He oversaw the greatest security failure in recent Israeli history, arguably since October 1973. He is yet to even apologize for that. Admitting he is wrong is not really in the 74-year-old Israeli leader’s DNA. However, he was forced to do so in October after trying to blame the security establishment for the atrocities, claiming they did not warn him. One doubts he will be too fazed by the incessant protests that have bedeviled his latest stint in office.
Many in his Likud party, no doubt with his approval, have turned on the protesters. One Likud Knesset member, Tali Gotlib, compared them to “terrorists.”
Staying in power, or at least in office, has always meant more to Netanyahu than developing a serious vision for the future of Israel. Even starving Palestinians in Gaza to the point of famine and having Israel on trial for genocide is worth it. He is also prepared, much to the alarm of many Israelis, to imperil the strategic relationship with the US that has shielded Israel in particular since 1967.
Does Netanyahu deserve the moniker “Mr. Security?” Even before Oct. 7, he had failed in many Israeli eyes. Hezbollah had built up a formidable arsenal to the north. And for all the Bibi bluster, Iran is now far closer to getting a nuclear weapon and its influence has spread across the region. Hamas in Gaza clearly developed capabilities that were a shock even to the Israeli security establishment. As for the West Bank, Netanyahu has lost control over the settler movement, with much of it veering toward the even more extreme groups under the leadership of Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Bringing those extremists into the government coalition was a disastrous move. Netanyahu legitimized extremist groups and politicians who had in the past been outlawed. Israel’s security is hardly helped by racists taking over major ministries.
But there is also Netanyahu’s very two-dimensional view of security. This is where the Israeli hammer can only see nails to bang. Leveling Gaza and turning it into one giant pot-holed parking lot and mass cemetery will not bring security. For every Hamas fighter killed, new generations will be signing up, seeking revenge – and also out of despair at not being able to change anything except by force.
It is a view of the world that perceives negotiating with an opponent or an enemy as a weakness. Netanyahu has never believed in negotiating with the Palestinians or engaging with the Palestinian nationalist movement. This is why he opposed the Oslo Accords. He, like Ariel Sharon before him, has done everything in his power to weaken them. He has basically deployed a full diplomatic freeze against the Palestinian Authority and enjoyed undermining its position in Palestinian society.
The most damaging fallout is with the families of the Israeli hostages. Last week, some of them told Netanyahu to his face that they get treated better in the White House.
Netanyahu is certainly suffering on the popularity front, with most Israelis wanting early elections. Only about a quarter of Israeli Jews trust him, with his leading opponent Benny Gantz way ahead. But polling shows that the PM’s warlike policies are popular among Israeli Jews. Some 87 percent believe that the number of Palestinian fatalities, at more than 30,000, is justified. And 43 percent think that Israel is holding back too much and should be using more force.
Given that Israelis, including many on the right of the political spectrum, cannot trust him, is it any wonder that many world leaders have not done so either? Bill Clinton was known to avoid Netanyahu. Barack Obama and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France were once caught on microphone discussing how fed up they were with him. President Joe Biden did not even invite the Israeli PM to the White House after his election victory. A bilateral meeting did not happen until September 2023, nine months after Netanyahu had returned to office. Even then, it was not in the White House but in New York. Many other world leaders are cautious about embracing Netanyahu too warmly.
So many questions surround the Israeli premier. What is it that has kept him in office for so long? Has he just been fortunate to have such pathetically weak opposition? Is he a political wizard or a dead man walking? This is not clear but he is undoubtedly the outstanding Israeli political operator of his generation. He is not a great strategist and, when Israelis look back on his era, it will be hard to pick out amazing achievements. His longevity is built on an understanding of the nuts and bolts of how to position himself and how to starve opponents of attention and reduce their credibility. Above all, he has never exhibited any self-doubt.
But at some point, Netanyahu will exit the political scene for good. For many Israelis and others, that day cannot come soon enough. Yet the caveat is that his legacy will live on and the ultranationalist settler-supporting “Greater Israel” vision will persist. On the Israeli political side of this conflict – of course the Palestinian political house also requires an overhaul – it will take more than the demise of one man to push forward the chances for peace. It needs a fresh approach; one that is hard to imagine can rise out of the rubble of the atrocities in Gaza.
