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| The Prime Minister and the President (Jerusalem Post) |
I reject any potential such criticism in totality. My praise and gratitude for the President stands He has not waivered at all in his support. What he has said is that Israel could lose the world support if Israel doesn’t stop on their ‘indiscriminate’ bombing in Gaza that has resulted in so many ‘innocent’ civilian casualties.
As I have said many times, I completely disagree that the bombing is indiscriminate (for reasons that are beyond the scope of this post). Unfortunately, the optics say otherwise. And Biden’s warning should not be taken lightly. The sad reality is that, aside from the US, Israel has long been the object of world condemnation. All one need do is look at the history of Israel bashing at the UN.
It doesn’t really take much for the rest of the world to forget or ignore what precipitated this war and resume their anti Israel narrative. It won’t be long before there will be yet another attempt at a Security Council resolution condemning Israel instead of condemning Hamas.
The President also criticized Netanyahu for not pursuing the 2 state solution as well as rejecting Biden’s call for the PA to rule Gaza after the war.
As I have said many times - although in theory I would agree with a 2 state solution, in practice this is an impossibility. It would be a mistake of epic proportion to create a Palestinian state that would be led by a Holocaust denier who aggrandizes and financially rewards the families of terrorists that have murdered or attempted to murder Jews. Calling them martyrs and even naming streets after them! How anyone in their right mind would hand over territory to a people like that - defies logic. Clearly Netanyahu is right and Biden is wrong about that.
A word about criticizing Netanyahu. I find it appalling that the leader of Israel is being bashed by Jews at a time of its existential war with a savage enemy.
First of all, with respect to the conduct of the war, Netanyahu is not running the war any differently than his political opponents would. The simple fact is that his war cabinet includes his chief political rival, former Army Chief of Staff Benny Gantz. I also doubt that Netanyahu’s conduct of the war defies the best advice of his military/intelligence experts.
Netanyahu is so hated by his critics that their bias against him blinds them to that reality. It’s true that the buck stops with the prime minister. But he isn’t making his decisions in a vacuum.
I know all about the issues his critics have with him. Which includes accusations that he is corrupt; immoral; a liar; a man that breaks his promises even to his own colleagues in order to gain political advantage; a man that has alienated his supporters, insulted an American president; is an egotist who places himself above the law and ahead of the welfare of his country, a crook who has taken bribes in exchange for favorable legislation... He has even been compared to Donald Trump as a self serving narcissist that would sell his soul to the devil for his own material benefit. I also realize that not all of his critics are on the left. Most are. But he has made plenty of enemies even within his own party.
I might even agree with some of those criticisms. But the one thing I am certain of is that Netanyahu is a patriot. Who has served his country well as the longest serving prime minster in Israel’s history. Which would have been impossible without his party getting a plurality of the electoral vote in every one of his elections.
For all I know he could be the most hated man in Israel right now.(Although I doubt it.) I know that polls currently show that he has lost the support of the vast majority of his own people. This may very well be Netanyahu’s ‘last ’hurrah’… his final term in office as prime minister.
But whatever the case may be, he is the duly elected prime minister of Israel. So it doesn’t really matter that the tide has turned against him. What matters is that Netanyahu is the sitting prime minister and ought not be bashed at a time of existential war. A war he is running with the advice and consent of a war cabinet that includes strong political opponents. Some of whom hate him so much they think he is the devil incarnate. But tearing down Israel’s leader at a time of war is both wrong, dangerous, and stupid. It ought to stop right now. At least until after the war.