Baseless Blame of Bibi

Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, to state the obvious, is a complex individual and a complex national leader. Among his less admirable traits that are cited by some are a giant ego and suspicion and distrust of many who work even directly for him. Many accuse him of maintaining low ethical standards in his relations with rivals.  But although his political machinations may be unethical, as seen by some, the allegations being made against him regarding his position vis-a-vis the fate of the hostages still being held by Hamas are despicable. I wish to make it clear that I am no longer a political supporter of Bibi Netanyahu and I demand that he, along with the entire upper echelon of our political, military and intelligence step down as soon as we are convinced that we have defeated Hamas. Furthermore, this action should be followed by a full government-sponsored inquiry as to our country’s failure to protect its citizens on October 7^th.

But to promote the view that Netanyahu is so self-centered and insensitive to others’ pain, so bloodless and Machiavellian, as to keep our hostages in captivity only to prolong his administration is nothing more than calumny. For example, take the explicit charges against him made by Carmit Palty Katzir. She is the sister of Elad Katzir, murdered in Hamas captivity, the daughter of Hanna Katzir, released after forty-nine days, and the daughter of Rami Katzir, murdered at home on Kibbutz Nir Oz. They are found in the new anti-Netanyahu book, “Dark Legacy: The Abandonment of the October 7^th Hostages” and are an example. Her claims emerge from, I am sure, a place of unbearable pain that I pray no decent person ever confronts again. But she and others who appear in that volume appear to place greater trust and confidence in the terrorist leader Yahya Sinwar than in Israel’s prime minister. It is only out of utter desperation, I assume, that they naively infer Sinwar would, after an IDF retreat from Gaza, fulfill the terms of a hostage deal made with Israel.

The venomous, palpable hatred for Bibi Netanyahu that long precedes October 7^th among the Kaplan St. protestors, a group that now sadly includes relatives and friends of the hostages, in my mind discredits the legitimacy of almost any criticism they voice of him. And to bring that book to Washington, DC in an effort to engender the enmity of foreign leadership against our sovereign country’s elected leader is nothing less than a national embarrassment. We depend upon US cooperation, and it on us. But such a craven act makes us appear as no more than a vassal state. Shame on all of those behind this tactic.

Strong, open-throated criticism of his policies and his political scheming, by all means, but the baseless undisguised hatred of Bibi Netanyahu that is endemic to Israel’s political left is exactly what our tradition teaches led to the tragic destruction of the Second Temple. Will we ever learn?

Protesters call for the release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, July 17, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)