The Warrior
(Help me keep the momentum going with my two new titles, The God That Answers by Fire and Zechariah 2. They really are great Christmas gifts as you line-up Bible studies for the New Year. Many thanks!)
Has any politician in the international community been vilified as long as Benjamin Netanyahu?
I well remember a columnist writing during Netanyahu’s first term in the 90s: “The Year of Hating Bibi.” That was referring to 1997, his first full year in office after defeating the Old Guard, led by Shimon Peres.
(A quick word about Peres, which illustrates how men can make good decisions, followed by very poor decisions. It was Peres who recommended that the Israeli government proceed with a military plan to rescue hostages held far away in Uganda. Fifteen years later he was leading the disastrous appeasement project to the “Palestinian” Arabs: Oslo, and the Two-State Solution. By the time he faced Netanyahu for the premiership in 1996, Peres was entrenched in his role as left-wing elder statesman. Life is “funny” sometimes.)
None of us have a perfect track record in making decisions. The best leaders make the right decision when it counts the most. Think Churchill.
Netanyahu will go down in history as another Churchill (I think the original would draw on his cigar and with merry eyes watch the current defender of Zionism).
Today, Bibi stands astride Israeli politics. And for all the criticism aimed at him over the years, one has to admit he has thus far achieved his life’s goal: There is no “Palestinian” state. He has tied the Arabs in such knots of hate that they continue to hatch unhinged plans to destroy him and his country.
He said this week that Syria’s newest dictator, President Ahmed al-Sharaa, came back from Washington “inflated” after being schmoozed by President Donald Trump. Netanyahu is right, of course. One year ago, al-Sharaa was a terrorist with a bounty on his head from the U.S. Now he is a “key peacemaker” for the Middle East. What are they smoking in the Oval Office? Not even Obama and the illegitimate Biden gave an in-house platform like that, including this week’s with the Saudi crown prince.
In any event, Netanyahu realizes that the Syrians are now emboldened having been given the seal of approval by an American President. In the White House. What are they smoking in Foggy Bottom? They will now demand the Golan Heights.
Trump’s latest gambit, pinning peace hopes on improved Arab economies that will reform terrorists—a foreign policy idea that has not worked in 200 years—is doomed to fail. That it’s him pushing it is all-the-more disappointing.
So Netanyahu stands virtually alone. He does have some international friends, courageous leaders that defy Muslim hate and left-wing diplomats. India, Hungary, and a smattering of smaller states stand with Israel. And, since God is watching, those leaders are providing the very best guidance for their peoples.
I well remember the 90s, when smarmy, soft “journalists” on this side of the ocean loved losers like Tony Blair, Netanyahu was learning the ropes in dealing with the serial liar Bill Clinton. He cut his teeth on duplicitous diplomacy from Clinton’s Crew: Paul Begala, Warren Christopher, Dennis Ross. All tried to shove a “Palestinian” state down Israel’s throat.
When they all met at Wye, in Maryland, in 1998, Netanyahu learned just what a blasphemous liar Clinton really is. Jerking concessions out of Netanyahu (then in office 18 months), Clinton promised a pardon for convicted spy Jonathan Pollard, then languishing in prison on the orders of George H.W. Bush’s gang of scoundrel advisors. In fact, the Israeli plane was on standby, anticipating the transfer of Pollard to them.
At the last minute, Clinton reneged. Which is to say, he never had any intention of handing over Pollard. It would take many more years before the former Navy analyst made it home to Israel.
Netanyahu learned from all this. He became a political warrior, after having cemented his reputation as a battlefield warrior. From the Yom Kippur War, to foiling terror plots, Bibi has defended his people with all his might. As has all his family. I’ve name-dropped this several times, but I knew Prof. Benzion Netanyahu the last decade of his life (he died at 102 in 2012).
In the family dining room at his Jerusalem home, the professor showed me a bronze bust of his oldest son, Yonatan, who fell leading the (successful) assault force at Entebbe. It was around that dining room table that all three boys (Iddo also served in the elite counter-terrorism unit, Sayeret Matkal, like his brothers) learned Zionism. It is in their bones.
Bibi will never betray his heritage. He might not make every decision the way we would, but at 75, his legacy as a lion of Judah is permanent.
Ariel Sharon’s autobiography was titled Warrior.
Benjamin Netanyahu has earned the same title.
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