How’s his record in the last 25 years or so of power? Anyone else in charge of security on Oct 7, 2023 would be long gone for “ensuring Israel’s security”.
Consider his strategy of weakening the Palestinians by undermining the PA and allowing Hamas $millions to build tunnels, rockets, munition factories. Consider his record vis a vis Iran for the last 20 years.
Bibi was not in charge of security. IDF Chief of Staff, Lt. General Herzi Halevi, took responsibility for IDF failures and resigned. Start by understanding the role of the Tatzpatinyot.
Halevi and the rest of the WOKE IDF General Staff were totally unprepared.
Bibi is the best thing ever to happen to Israel. Before he arrived, Israel was an economic basket case. He reformed everything by instituting free market principles. Israle is now a powerhouse. He made Israel throw its 1948 Communist and Socialist nonsense into the dustbin of history. The Kibbutz economy is long gone.
Do you miss Communism, Harvey. Well go to Cuba, Nicaragua or North Korea.
Bibi was good at a lot of things, including his vision of Israel as an economic powerhouse. Kudos to him. But the comment was about assuring Israel’s security. Nice try putting the accountability on Halevi. Where does the buck stop? How does this have anything to do with Communism? Why do you name those particular countries. If I was going Socialism, I’d go Nordic or Israel (universal healthcare, free University, etc.)
The permanent threats to peace in the Middle East are all the Arab Muslim states, plus Iran, plus Turkiye. If they were sincerely interested in peace they would simply recognize Israel and engage with her without fanning anti-Zionist sentiment domestically. But since they do not they blame, as so many stupid Jews do, Netanyahu. As usual, if you want to know how anyone behaves, look to their own behaviour first; therein lies the explanation. But one day they will reap what they sow.
The Red-Green alliance’s ultimate objective is not coexistence. It is a world where Christianity and Judaism are pushed from public authority, mocked as relics, and replaced by revolutionary grievance politics, Islamist power, and managerial globalism. Israel exposes that project because Israel is the stubborn fact they cannot erase: a Jewish nation, armed, sovereign, technologically advanced, and unwilling to apologize for survival. The old Middle East wanted Israel useful but not powerful, tolerated but not respected, blamed but not integrated. The Abraham Accords broke that spell. Netanyahu’s real offense is not blocking peace. It is refusing a fake peace that leaves Iran’s proxies intact, Hamas rearmed, Hezbollah sanctified, and Jews permanently one ceasefire away from another slaughter. Comfort is not peace. Strategic ambiguity is not peace. A lull before the next pogrom is not peace.
Personally, I know very little about Israel's internal politics, so I try not to pretend otherwise. But I do know one thing: since the aftermath of October 7, I think Netanyahu has been outstanding. The way he's handled the war, dealt with President Trump, and confronted Iran and its proxies has impressed me tremendously.
In fact, when I hear some of these governments complaining about him, it almost reinforces my opinion. Many of these are the same governments whose judgment I don't particularly admire. If they're uncomfortable, perhaps it's because the status quo they've grown accustomed to is finally being challenged.
I see a similar pattern with President Trump. The leaders who criticize him most loudly often do so because he's forcing issues they'd rather avoid—whether it's NATO members paying more for their own defense or confronting Iran more directly instead of simply managing the problem.
Sometimes the people who are most vilified are the very ones changing the landscape. History will ultimately judge whether they were right or wrong, but I don't think either Netanyahu or Trump can fairly be accused of accepting the comfortable status quo.
The thing that disturbs me about Netanyahu is that he has allowed the haredim to become a permanent drain on Israel. They are supported by the state and not only do they not fight in the military to defend their families, they do not even do nonmilitary support jobs, and for the most part, their educational system ensures that even if they wanted to find work, they are unskilled in basic things like math. I recognize the value of the Torah Dome but even King David found it within his power to simultaneously be religious and defend his country.
The Religious Zionists who do most of the fighting and dying also do most of the sacrificing in terms of loss of jobs, businesses and family because they are carrying an outsized burden.
The cost of supporting such a huge nonworking population raises the taxes so the tech sector flees for better paying jobs and lower taxes.
In many ways, the favoritism Netanyahu granted the burgeoning haredi population endangers Israel from within. Push is going to come to shove. We have enough enemies, we need to be unified and he is only causing internal friction.
Very astute observation and not limited to Israel and the Haredis. It is the inevitable byproduct of political pandering to win over a particular voting bloc. Their votes come at a great price. It's called insatiable demands that are antithetical to the majority norm.
Reagan created the same problem when he needed more votes to score the election win. Typically , very few were excited by the prospect of Evangelicals influencing policy. They were too fundamentalist, too socially ideologically right and extreme. America was founded upon Enlightenment Rationalism.Not theocratic idealism. The Evangelicals were more or less seen as crackpots. Thing is, they were numerous, but didn't vote. They never found a candidate who fulfilled their qualifications. So Reagan reached out to Reverend Jerry Falwell. Falwell fulfilled the request and the payback was Falwell's " Moral Majority". Reagan couldn't get any appointments passed. Particularly judicial appointments.The Republican Party went from Libertarian leaning , right to privacy, minimum intrusion to anti-abortion religious zealotry. Ironic, given Reagan governed California as a very liberal Democrat .
Post Clinton, the Republicans tried to back off the religious zealotry, but now they had the Catholics and the abortion zealotry was still amped up, but somewhat tamped down. Roe would remain. During this time, the Evangelist movement became one of fervent Zionism. They literally became the most powerful source of Israeli support, particularly of Netanyahu. They all saw Islam as an illegitimate death cult. The Jews, because it was the threat to their existence, the Evangelicals because they were an abomination.
Obama's catering to Islam, Communism, anti-Americanism, anti-Zionism , abortion and everything they stood against brought them back. They also hated Bush.
And the rise of Ted Cruz built up. The Tea Party. And along came Trump. The most unlikely. He wasn't Conservative . Won over Dems, lefties, minorities and obliterated every Republican contender but for Cruz. So he pulled a Reagan.Went to the Evangelicals and Catholics . Particularly the Black Evangelicals. He beat Cruz AND Hillary! And then came payback time. And payout time.
But the crown jewel was Biden and the Dhimms appeasing Bernie. It wasn't enough to validate Omar, AOC, Tlaib and BLM.Now it's global.
Bibi created much of his own problems. He not only pandered to the Haredis. He pandered to the globalist Covidian Cool Guys and threw the fabulous Dr Michael Levitt under the bus. Israel had the lowest Covid infection rate, was a beacon of freedom and " fuck you to The Man" under Nobel Laureate Levitt's guidance. Even former virulent Israel critics were praising Israel's handling of Covid. And Bibi betrayed the Israeli people, Levitt , the honorable medical professionals, scientists, whistleblowers and fans who stood up to the mob.
Israel, with the vaccine mandate, extreme lockdowns. closures and policing became the MOST infected nation and global laughingstock. Especially after begging Bourla to sell him the vaccines, paying double that of the rest of the world, providing Jewish blood samples from Israel's blood bank for " research" and Bourla, upon leaving Israel laughing and naming it the world's largest petri dish .
Never banning Soros and the rest of the NGOs creating and funding the turmoil within. Not labeling the Muslim Brotherhood a Terrorist Entity even though Egypt, Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Libya and before any of them had.. prior to the Iranian Revolution and Iraq wars, Pahlavi and Saddam had. And now, Kuwait, Azerbaijan,Kenya,Hungary,Jordan,India, Argentina, Japan have.
In 30 years of leadership, Bibi never cleaned house. That Ehud Barak hasn't been at the very least ,convicted of treason and locked up for life is anathema. That he hasn't withdrawn from the UN is embarassing.
But when he issued a public statement for Trump to walk away. Biden won and was the first to congratulate Biden when it was prematurely called.Congratulating him publicly on camera from the dais- as " One of the greatest friends to Israel and to me"- I wanted to vomit.
Our nephew's wife, sister in law and mother in law were slaughtered in ways unspeakable on Oct 7. Shani's crime was a surprise visit -she hadn't been to Israel in 2 years and hadn't seen her mom in a year. She didn't come back. Israel should never have been so vulnerable to attack and none of the traitors/ the saboteurs within are going to be held to account. Among them Yair Golan, Ehud Barak and a host of others.
Bibi is an obstacle to those who want Israel destroyed. That is the reason he is so despised. The real obstacle to actual peace is islam and its imperialist, annihilationist ideology and those Arab states like qatar that fund it. I'm not sure if Trump understands this or is he being influenced by the Arab regimes whispering in his ear. Is Trump going to do what other American presidents have done and work behind the scenes to oust Bibi who is inconvenient to Washington because he insists on defending his country and protecting his people which presents a problem for Washington's relationship with the Gulf Arabs? Israel doesn't have a trillion dollars to "invest", that is buy influence in America like qatar has, contrary to claims of omnipresent Israeli influence due to the pittance of money AIPAC spends.
The fact that so many malevolent forces are arrayed against Bibi from the muslim brotherhood jihadists to the gulf Arabs to Europe, to the marxist democrats and the woke Reich, should signal to Israelis that Bibi should be voted in once again by overwhelming numbers. That would be a huge "fuck you" to the world.
Israel needs to ignore the noise coming from all corners and act solely in its own best interests.
Excellent piece, Vanessa. You wrote, "They may also fear a regional order in which Israel emerges as the uncontested strategic power." Too late; that has already happened and Israel must keep it this way to survive.
Also, one of the major reasons the region wants a certain amount of "status quo" is to perpetuate the World's Greatest Hoax: "Palestinianism." Billions and billions flow around the world and into the pockets of the corrupt leaders, and there is plenty more to go around: Everything from private organizations to governments sending billions for "aid" to Gaza, to billions spent on terrorism, billions on organizing world-wide marches with paid protestors, billions into universities to teach anti-Israel and anti-Western ideology (and substitute pro-Islamic ideology).
For example: Just three days ago, the European Commission and more than a dozen partner countries launched the "Team Gaza Initiative," an approximately €884 million ($1 billion) recovery and reconstruction effort for Gaza. Oh, ssssuuuurrrre. Anyone going to follow the money?
Does anyone ever follow the money, other than what our current administration in America is doing by finding so much vast fraud riddled in state and federal programs.
Netanyahu is a threat to the corrupt MONEY, and these "leaders" care more about that than anything else, even if their populations live in perpetual poverty and war.
This is brilliant analysis that puts aside Netanyahu’s domestic political problems including a damaging alliance to hold onto power with a brave and strategic regional approach unprecedented and overdue. One suspects that unfortunately October 2026 will come before the Netanyahu regional accord will be implemented. And sadly the massive damage done in Gaza and the West Bank blinds the world to his poorly promoted regional strategy. Thank you Vanessa for your thoughtful, astute and historically informed analysis!!
Sadly, not enough damage has been done in Gaza and Judea and Samaria (the West Bank is a Jordanian-Pakistani fiction). The world is not blind to what Netanyahu accomplished. It simply hates the Jewish state because of what he did accomplish.
Why Pakistan? The political geography of what was ‘Palestine’ is so poorly understood today - the division between Mandate Palestine and Transjordan it was a colonial convenience that heavily favoured the Hashemite dynasty that has maintained a carefully managed ethnic balance between Arabs and’Palestinians’ - Jordan (mis) managed the West Bank 1949-1967 and then lost it in a war - it is very unclear what role it now plays in ‘peace making’ besides hosting US bases
.. when Britain left India in 1948, the country was partitioned, with the Muslims going west to newly created Pakistan, and the Hindus moving east into India .. 2 million dead from the fighting and 11 million refugees.
Jordan (Transjordan) was created from 78% of British Mandated Palestine in 1922 .. in the 1967 war, Israel defeated Jordan which occupied Judea and Samaria from 1948 .. Israel should have copied the British action in 1948 and partitioned Judea & Samaria such that the Muslims go east to Jordan to join their fellow people, and Judea and Samaria should have become part of Israel.
This is an interesting analogy but problematic because it suggests a clean dichotomy based on Jews and Muslims. First the creation of Pakistan was not just a question of geographic relocation, and its establishment created two enclaves initially west and east Pakistan (Gaza and West Bank?) the latter becoming Bangladesh in 1971. Interestingly there an estimated 172 million Muslims in India; 13 million Hindus in Bangladesh and 5 million Hindus in Pakistan, staggering numbers by Middle East demography. My point was that Jordan could have absorbed the Palestinian population readily as could have Egypt when it ran Gaza 1949-1967 but both for the own political and nationalist agendas ruthlessly kept refugees from the Israeli side of the 1947 partition as refugees rather than incorporating them as citizens. The problem with the Jew/Muslim dichotomy is that 2 million Muslims, Arab Israelis now live in Israel, I suspect very few Jews currently live in Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon! The UN Partition in 1947 could have gone with a 78/22 split, but instead went with a 87/13 split dividing Mandate Palestine into two without any mention of (Trans) Jordan. But as we know even that apportionment was unacceptable to all Arab states with Jordan annexing the West Bank and Egypt the Gaza Strip post the 1949 Armistice. There is far too little focus on territorial and demographic/ethnic history in current debates.
.. this type of ‘partition’ may have worked in 1967, but in 2026 it would be called ‘ethnic cleansing’. Mind you, depending on numbers, the Muslims could be given a choice of whether they would prefer to become Israeli Arabs, or to move to any number of Arab countries, or based on the slow creeping islamisation of western societies, let those countries take them in.
Christians would no doubt want to become Israeli Arabs.
You refer to a 78/22 split .. this was in 1922 when Transjordan was given to the Hashemites. I don’t have the figures for the % of land split that suggested by the United Nations in November 1947.
The 1948 Israel war of Independence let to Jordan and Egypt taking Judea / Samaria and Gaza respectively .. yet it was not until the early 1960s, that the notion of a palestinian right to self determination started to germinate under the auspices of an Egyptian named Arafat. The two state solution could be said to have come into effect in 1922, as Jordan was created with 78% of what was British Mandated Palestine.
All the countries crafted from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire following WW1 are cut from the same cloth, ie Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Israel being the most successful, counting 2 million Arabs amongst its population, Jordan just about operates and the other 3 are dysfunctional failed states.
Israel and Netanyahu are not obstacles to peace ,they are disrupting the dysfunctional status quo of “managed instability” that has trapped the Middle East for decades.
Arab leaders complaining to Trump that Netanyahu is the problem are really afraid that Israel is no longer willing to merely contain its enemies. Netanyahu is determined to dismantle the military infrastructure of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran’s proxy network. Real peace requires disarming terrorists, not endless ceasefires that only give them time to rearm.
The Abraham Accords proved that peace with the Arab world does not depend on solving the Palestinian conflict. Netanyahu showed that Israel can be accepted as a strong, permanent, and valuable partner — not as a side that must first be weakened or pressured into concessions.
The region should fear regimes that export violence, stockpile missiles, and embed terror armies among civilians not a country defending itself decisively. Instead of panicking about a “shift in the balance,” Arab governments should support ending the cycle of terror and rejectionism.
Netanyahu may not be perfect, but today he represents the will to say: Israel will no longer accept being a permanently managed target. True peace demands strength, clarity, and the defeat of those who start wars not comfort and strategic ambiguity for those who benefit from never ending them.
Is Netanyahu a threat to peace?
No.
Absolutely not.
His views are those which will ensure the security of Israel.
Am Yisrael Chai
How’s his record in the last 25 years or so of power? Anyone else in charge of security on Oct 7, 2023 would be long gone for “ensuring Israel’s security”.
Consider his strategy of weakening the Palestinians by undermining the PA and allowing Hamas $millions to build tunnels, rockets, munition factories. Consider his record vis a vis Iran for the last 20 years.
Let’s judge Bibi on results.
Bibi was not in charge of security. IDF Chief of Staff, Lt. General Herzi Halevi, took responsibility for IDF failures and resigned. Start by understanding the role of the Tatzpatinyot.
Halevi and the rest of the WOKE IDF General Staff were totally unprepared.
Bibi is the best thing ever to happen to Israel. Before he arrived, Israel was an economic basket case. He reformed everything by instituting free market principles. Israle is now a powerhouse. He made Israel throw its 1948 Communist and Socialist nonsense into the dustbin of history. The Kibbutz economy is long gone.
Do you miss Communism, Harvey. Well go to Cuba, Nicaragua or North Korea.
Nice try, Harvey. better luck next time.
Bibi was good at a lot of things, including his vision of Israel as an economic powerhouse. Kudos to him. But the comment was about assuring Israel’s security. Nice try putting the accountability on Halevi. Where does the buck stop? How does this have anything to do with Communism? Why do you name those particular countries. If I was going Socialism, I’d go Nordic or Israel (universal healthcare, free University, etc.)
what it means is that they see Bibi as a threat to being able to genocide the Jewish state. Bibi just wont play the dhimmi.
The permanent threats to peace in the Middle East are all the Arab Muslim states, plus Iran, plus Turkiye. If they were sincerely interested in peace they would simply recognize Israel and engage with her without fanning anti-Zionist sentiment domestically. But since they do not they blame, as so many stupid Jews do, Netanyahu. As usual, if you want to know how anyone behaves, look to their own behaviour first; therein lies the explanation. But one day they will reap what they sow.
No! In fact Netanyahu is keeping peace by dealing with the enemy accordingly. The left won't do that.
The Left would appease…. Obama Biden/Harris… cough wink yawn!!
Only to those who want Israel wiped out.
The Red-Green alliance’s ultimate objective is not coexistence. It is a world where Christianity and Judaism are pushed from public authority, mocked as relics, and replaced by revolutionary grievance politics, Islamist power, and managerial globalism. Israel exposes that project because Israel is the stubborn fact they cannot erase: a Jewish nation, armed, sovereign, technologically advanced, and unwilling to apologize for survival. The old Middle East wanted Israel useful but not powerful, tolerated but not respected, blamed but not integrated. The Abraham Accords broke that spell. Netanyahu’s real offense is not blocking peace. It is refusing a fake peace that leaves Iran’s proxies intact, Hamas rearmed, Hezbollah sanctified, and Jews permanently one ceasefire away from another slaughter. Comfort is not peace. Strategic ambiguity is not peace. A lull before the next pogrom is not peace.
Absolutely NOT ! Isreal should keep him as PM for as long as possible.
“Mediator, Qatar …. cough yawn wink… A govt Saudi Arabia …. Same thing… Your essay was fabulous! Am Yisrael Chai!
Excellent article.
Personally, I know very little about Israel's internal politics, so I try not to pretend otherwise. But I do know one thing: since the aftermath of October 7, I think Netanyahu has been outstanding. The way he's handled the war, dealt with President Trump, and confronted Iran and its proxies has impressed me tremendously.
In fact, when I hear some of these governments complaining about him, it almost reinforces my opinion. Many of these are the same governments whose judgment I don't particularly admire. If they're uncomfortable, perhaps it's because the status quo they've grown accustomed to is finally being challenged.
I see a similar pattern with President Trump. The leaders who criticize him most loudly often do so because he's forcing issues they'd rather avoid—whether it's NATO members paying more for their own defense or confronting Iran more directly instead of simply managing the problem.
Sometimes the people who are most vilified are the very ones changing the landscape. History will ultimately judge whether they were right or wrong, but I don't think either Netanyahu or Trump can fairly be accused of accepting the comfortable status quo.
As always, a thought-provoking article.
The thing that disturbs me about Netanyahu is that he has allowed the haredim to become a permanent drain on Israel. They are supported by the state and not only do they not fight in the military to defend their families, they do not even do nonmilitary support jobs, and for the most part, their educational system ensures that even if they wanted to find work, they are unskilled in basic things like math. I recognize the value of the Torah Dome but even King David found it within his power to simultaneously be religious and defend his country.
The Religious Zionists who do most of the fighting and dying also do most of the sacrificing in terms of loss of jobs, businesses and family because they are carrying an outsized burden.
The cost of supporting such a huge nonworking population raises the taxes so the tech sector flees for better paying jobs and lower taxes.
In many ways, the favoritism Netanyahu granted the burgeoning haredi population endangers Israel from within. Push is going to come to shove. We have enough enemies, we need to be unified and he is only causing internal friction.
Very astute observation and not limited to Israel and the Haredis. It is the inevitable byproduct of political pandering to win over a particular voting bloc. Their votes come at a great price. It's called insatiable demands that are antithetical to the majority norm.
Reagan created the same problem when he needed more votes to score the election win. Typically , very few were excited by the prospect of Evangelicals influencing policy. They were too fundamentalist, too socially ideologically right and extreme. America was founded upon Enlightenment Rationalism.Not theocratic idealism. The Evangelicals were more or less seen as crackpots. Thing is, they were numerous, but didn't vote. They never found a candidate who fulfilled their qualifications. So Reagan reached out to Reverend Jerry Falwell. Falwell fulfilled the request and the payback was Falwell's " Moral Majority". Reagan couldn't get any appointments passed. Particularly judicial appointments.The Republican Party went from Libertarian leaning , right to privacy, minimum intrusion to anti-abortion religious zealotry. Ironic, given Reagan governed California as a very liberal Democrat .
Post Clinton, the Republicans tried to back off the religious zealotry, but now they had the Catholics and the abortion zealotry was still amped up, but somewhat tamped down. Roe would remain. During this time, the Evangelist movement became one of fervent Zionism. They literally became the most powerful source of Israeli support, particularly of Netanyahu. They all saw Islam as an illegitimate death cult. The Jews, because it was the threat to their existence, the Evangelicals because they were an abomination.
Obama's catering to Islam, Communism, anti-Americanism, anti-Zionism , abortion and everything they stood against brought them back. They also hated Bush.
And the rise of Ted Cruz built up. The Tea Party. And along came Trump. The most unlikely. He wasn't Conservative . Won over Dems, lefties, minorities and obliterated every Republican contender but for Cruz. So he pulled a Reagan.Went to the Evangelicals and Catholics . Particularly the Black Evangelicals. He beat Cruz AND Hillary! And then came payback time. And payout time.
But the crown jewel was Biden and the Dhimms appeasing Bernie. It wasn't enough to validate Omar, AOC, Tlaib and BLM.Now it's global.
Bibi created much of his own problems. He not only pandered to the Haredis. He pandered to the globalist Covidian Cool Guys and threw the fabulous Dr Michael Levitt under the bus. Israel had the lowest Covid infection rate, was a beacon of freedom and " fuck you to The Man" under Nobel Laureate Levitt's guidance. Even former virulent Israel critics were praising Israel's handling of Covid. And Bibi betrayed the Israeli people, Levitt , the honorable medical professionals, scientists, whistleblowers and fans who stood up to the mob.
Israel, with the vaccine mandate, extreme lockdowns. closures and policing became the MOST infected nation and global laughingstock. Especially after begging Bourla to sell him the vaccines, paying double that of the rest of the world, providing Jewish blood samples from Israel's blood bank for " research" and Bourla, upon leaving Israel laughing and naming it the world's largest petri dish .
Never banning Soros and the rest of the NGOs creating and funding the turmoil within. Not labeling the Muslim Brotherhood a Terrorist Entity even though Egypt, Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Libya and before any of them had.. prior to the Iranian Revolution and Iraq wars, Pahlavi and Saddam had. And now, Kuwait, Azerbaijan,Kenya,Hungary,Jordan,India, Argentina, Japan have.
In 30 years of leadership, Bibi never cleaned house. That Ehud Barak hasn't been at the very least ,convicted of treason and locked up for life is anathema. That he hasn't withdrawn from the UN is embarassing.
But when he issued a public statement for Trump to walk away. Biden won and was the first to congratulate Biden when it was prematurely called.Congratulating him publicly on camera from the dais- as " One of the greatest friends to Israel and to me"- I wanted to vomit.
Our nephew's wife, sister in law and mother in law were slaughtered in ways unspeakable on Oct 7. Shani's crime was a surprise visit -she hadn't been to Israel in 2 years and hadn't seen her mom in a year. She didn't come back. Israel should never have been so vulnerable to attack and none of the traitors/ the saboteurs within are going to be held to account. Among them Yair Golan, Ehud Barak and a host of others.
Bibi is an obstacle to those who want Israel destroyed. That is the reason he is so despised. The real obstacle to actual peace is islam and its imperialist, annihilationist ideology and those Arab states like qatar that fund it. I'm not sure if Trump understands this or is he being influenced by the Arab regimes whispering in his ear. Is Trump going to do what other American presidents have done and work behind the scenes to oust Bibi who is inconvenient to Washington because he insists on defending his country and protecting his people which presents a problem for Washington's relationship with the Gulf Arabs? Israel doesn't have a trillion dollars to "invest", that is buy influence in America like qatar has, contrary to claims of omnipresent Israeli influence due to the pittance of money AIPAC spends.
The fact that so many malevolent forces are arrayed against Bibi from the muslim brotherhood jihadists to the gulf Arabs to Europe, to the marxist democrats and the woke Reich, should signal to Israelis that Bibi should be voted in once again by overwhelming numbers. That would be a huge "fuck you" to the world.
Israel needs to ignore the noise coming from all corners and act solely in its own best interests.
YES!!! Exactly this!
Bibi is one of the greats.
Arab leaders say Netanyahu is the obstacle to peace. I'm not Israeli — but that's the single best campaign endorsement he could ask for.
Excellent piece, Vanessa. You wrote, "They may also fear a regional order in which Israel emerges as the uncontested strategic power." Too late; that has already happened and Israel must keep it this way to survive.
Also, one of the major reasons the region wants a certain amount of "status quo" is to perpetuate the World's Greatest Hoax: "Palestinianism." Billions and billions flow around the world and into the pockets of the corrupt leaders, and there is plenty more to go around: Everything from private organizations to governments sending billions for "aid" to Gaza, to billions spent on terrorism, billions on organizing world-wide marches with paid protestors, billions into universities to teach anti-Israel and anti-Western ideology (and substitute pro-Islamic ideology).
For example: Just three days ago, the European Commission and more than a dozen partner countries launched the "Team Gaza Initiative," an approximately €884 million ($1 billion) recovery and reconstruction effort for Gaza. Oh, ssssuuuurrrre. Anyone going to follow the money?
Does anyone ever follow the money, other than what our current administration in America is doing by finding so much vast fraud riddled in state and federal programs.
Netanyahu is a threat to the corrupt MONEY, and these "leaders" care more about that than anything else, even if their populations live in perpetual poverty and war.
This is brilliant analysis that puts aside Netanyahu’s domestic political problems including a damaging alliance to hold onto power with a brave and strategic regional approach unprecedented and overdue. One suspects that unfortunately October 2026 will come before the Netanyahu regional accord will be implemented. And sadly the massive damage done in Gaza and the West Bank blinds the world to his poorly promoted regional strategy. Thank you Vanessa for your thoughtful, astute and historically informed analysis!!
Sadly, not enough damage has been done in Gaza and Judea and Samaria (the West Bank is a Jordanian-Pakistani fiction). The world is not blind to what Netanyahu accomplished. It simply hates the Jewish state because of what he did accomplish.
Why Pakistan? The political geography of what was ‘Palestine’ is so poorly understood today - the division between Mandate Palestine and Transjordan it was a colonial convenience that heavily favoured the Hashemite dynasty that has maintained a carefully managed ethnic balance between Arabs and’Palestinians’ - Jordan (mis) managed the West Bank 1949-1967 and then lost it in a war - it is very unclear what role it now plays in ‘peace making’ besides hosting US bases
.. when Britain left India in 1948, the country was partitioned, with the Muslims going west to newly created Pakistan, and the Hindus moving east into India .. 2 million dead from the fighting and 11 million refugees.
Jordan (Transjordan) was created from 78% of British Mandated Palestine in 1922 .. in the 1967 war, Israel defeated Jordan which occupied Judea and Samaria from 1948 .. Israel should have copied the British action in 1948 and partitioned Judea & Samaria such that the Muslims go east to Jordan to join their fellow people, and Judea and Samaria should have become part of Israel.
This is an interesting analogy but problematic because it suggests a clean dichotomy based on Jews and Muslims. First the creation of Pakistan was not just a question of geographic relocation, and its establishment created two enclaves initially west and east Pakistan (Gaza and West Bank?) the latter becoming Bangladesh in 1971. Interestingly there an estimated 172 million Muslims in India; 13 million Hindus in Bangladesh and 5 million Hindus in Pakistan, staggering numbers by Middle East demography. My point was that Jordan could have absorbed the Palestinian population readily as could have Egypt when it ran Gaza 1949-1967 but both for the own political and nationalist agendas ruthlessly kept refugees from the Israeli side of the 1947 partition as refugees rather than incorporating them as citizens. The problem with the Jew/Muslim dichotomy is that 2 million Muslims, Arab Israelis now live in Israel, I suspect very few Jews currently live in Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon! The UN Partition in 1947 could have gone with a 78/22 split, but instead went with a 87/13 split dividing Mandate Palestine into two without any mention of (Trans) Jordan. But as we know even that apportionment was unacceptable to all Arab states with Jordan annexing the West Bank and Egypt the Gaza Strip post the 1949 Armistice. There is far too little focus on territorial and demographic/ethnic history in current debates.
.. this type of ‘partition’ may have worked in 1967, but in 2026 it would be called ‘ethnic cleansing’. Mind you, depending on numbers, the Muslims could be given a choice of whether they would prefer to become Israeli Arabs, or to move to any number of Arab countries, or based on the slow creeping islamisation of western societies, let those countries take them in.
Christians would no doubt want to become Israeli Arabs.
You refer to a 78/22 split .. this was in 1922 when Transjordan was given to the Hashemites. I don’t have the figures for the % of land split that suggested by the United Nations in November 1947.
The 1948 Israel war of Independence let to Jordan and Egypt taking Judea / Samaria and Gaza respectively .. yet it was not until the early 1960s, that the notion of a palestinian right to self determination started to germinate under the auspices of an Egyptian named Arafat. The two state solution could be said to have come into effect in 1922, as Jordan was created with 78% of what was British Mandated Palestine.
All the countries crafted from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire following WW1 are cut from the same cloth, ie Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Israel being the most successful, counting 2 million Arabs amongst its population, Jordan just about operates and the other 3 are dysfunctional failed states.
Israel and Netanyahu are not obstacles to peace ,they are disrupting the dysfunctional status quo of “managed instability” that has trapped the Middle East for decades.
Arab leaders complaining to Trump that Netanyahu is the problem are really afraid that Israel is no longer willing to merely contain its enemies. Netanyahu is determined to dismantle the military infrastructure of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran’s proxy network. Real peace requires disarming terrorists, not endless ceasefires that only give them time to rearm.
The Abraham Accords proved that peace with the Arab world does not depend on solving the Palestinian conflict. Netanyahu showed that Israel can be accepted as a strong, permanent, and valuable partner — not as a side that must first be weakened or pressured into concessions.
The region should fear regimes that export violence, stockpile missiles, and embed terror armies among civilians not a country defending itself decisively. Instead of panicking about a “shift in the balance,” Arab governments should support ending the cycle of terror and rejectionism.
Netanyahu may not be perfect, but today he represents the will to say: Israel will no longer accept being a permanently managed target. True peace demands strength, clarity, and the defeat of those who start wars not comfort and strategic ambiguity for those who benefit from never ending them.
#StandWithIsrael
islam is the obstacle to peace. Who gives a shit what the Arabs want, Israel must act only in its self-interests.