Benjamin Netanyahu - Crook or Great Leader?

Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu (Jerusalem Post)

Just yesterday, Israelis woke to the shocking and welcome news that the president of Chad was arriving for a visit. Though the majority-Muslim, Arabic-speaking nation does not have any diplomatic relations with Israel, President Idriss Déby paid the first-ever presidential visit to Israel since its founding.

This came on the heels of a string of diplomatic victories for Israel on the African continent. With three Africa trips in just two years, the prime minister has visited Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda and Liberia...

(Bibi has) ramped up (Israel’s) connections with Muslim states in Africa, including Mali, Somalia and the Republic of Guinea, which recently renewed diplomatic relations with Israel for the first time in nearly 50 years... 

In the past few months, the world has witnessed a rapport between Israel and many of the Gulf states that would, just months ago, have been unthinkable.

Now, just add to that the retired Saudi officials who recently shared a stage with retired Israeli peers, the unofficial yet very real Israeli diplomatic outpost in Abu Dhabi, and the overwhelmingly reliable rumors of deep cooperation between Israeli, Egyptian, Jordanian, and Gulf intelligence directorates, and you have a true diplomatic revolution...

On the security front, there is the constant threat of Iran and its proxy army Hezbollah. Bibi has kept the terrorist group from getting its blood-soaked hands on sophisticated weaponry making its way across Syria from Tehran. Here, he has shown both aggression in his willingness to strike high-risk targets throughout Syria, but also the interpersonal skills that have allowed him to keep the Russians generally aware of and agreeable to Israel’s security needs.