Iran Defanged — Blame Bibi!

For the last twenty-one months, the signs have been everywhere: on billboards, highway overpasses, and skyscrapers. With a single declaration, they pin responsibility on one man and one man only: “Atah haRosh; Atah Asheim” — “Bibi, You’re the Head; Bibi, You’re to Blame.” Sounds right.  Didn’t Harry Truman have a sign on his desk announcing: “The Buck Stops Here”?

Let’s count the ways we can blame Bibi:

First, there is the strategic disaster. In the aftermath of October 7, Bibi’s Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, stated that in addition to engaging Hamas in Gaza, we should immediately open a simultaneous northern front against Hezbollah. True, the US Secretary of Defense at the time, Lloyd Austin, had warned his Israeli counterpart not to even think about an incursion into Lebanon. No difference. Gallant publicly announced his intention to do so, anyway. The ever cautious, America-sensitive Bibi overruled his decorated Cabinet Minister and decided to adopt a methodical piece-by-piece approach instead. Initially, he concentrated all efforts on dealing the actual perpetrators of the October 7 massacre a stunning blow, reducing their fighting force by 17,000 over the first year of combat. Only then did he shift focus to Hezbollah, killing and maiming thousands of their operatives with booby-trapped beepers and eliminating the tyrant, Hassan Nasrallah, as he had previously dispatched the Palestinian terrorists, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh, and would soon take out Yahya Sinwar.

Afterward, he signed an agreement leading to the ascension of an anti-Hezbollah Christian to the Lebanese presidency; the US/Israel challenge of UNIFIL’s role as Hezbollah’s enabler; and the presence of the IDF in strategic southern Lebanese locations to keep an eye on the situation. Then, of course, Bibi got lucky.  Emboldened by Israel’s pounding of Hezbollah, Ahmed al-Sharaa overthrew Syria’s ruthless Assad dynasty and quickly distanced himself from both Hezbollah and Iran, providing Israel with an unchallenged air corridor to attack the Islamic Republic.  Plain dumb luck. True, Bibi didn’t take any chances. He instructed the IDF to eliminate what was left of Assad’s military equipment, just to make sure it didn’t get into the wrong hands. But anyone would have done that! With a clear coast it was a no-brainer to launch Operation Rising Lion which eliminated over thirty of Iran’s top military officials, at least fourteen of its foremost nuclear scientists, most of its ballistic missile arsenal, and almost all of its nuclear sites. He didn’t finish the job, though. The United States deserves all the credit for crippling Fordow. And don’t fool yourselves — Uncle Sam’s involvement was not the product of the Prime Minister’s daring decision to preemptively attack Iran or his deft handling of the American President. Destroying Fordow was simply in America’s own self interest!  For Israel, however, this war has been nothing but a self-evident strategic disaster.  Blame Bibi!

Second, there is the diplomatic catastrophe. Why didn’t Bibi listen to Gadi Eisenkot who dismissed the idea of a complete victory over Israel’s enemies as “nothing more than a slogan”? Why did Bibi hold out for more when he could have settled for so much less? Did he really believe that by waiting to evaluate the results of our military campaign, we’d be better positioned to determine a blueprint for the future? Why didn’t he immediately respond favorably to the immense domestic and international pressure to announce a plan for “the day after”? Of course, what the world had in mind post-October 7 was that Israel should agree to the Palestinian Authority (reformed, of course) taking control of Gaza with help from Israel’s many trustworthy Arab allies who have conditioned their involvement on a pathway to a future Palestinian state. What’s wrong with that? Of course, calls for a “day after” plan were issued even before Hamas and Hezbollah were decapitated, the Assad regime overthrown, Iran brought to its knees, and the American President proposed that the United States manage the Strip while Gazans be given the opportunity to resettle elsewhere in the world — an option half of the Gazans would welcome. Why has the Israeli government dragged its feet over the past year-and-a-half in providing a “day after” plan? Blame Bibi!

Last, is his horrid handling of the hostage crisis. Granted, the current constellation is more complicated than Entebbe, where a single terrorist group held all the captives in one confined space. Besides, Entebbe is not the best comparison anyway. Back then, Israel opposed negotiating with terrorists, knowing that capitulating to their demands incentivizes them to repeat their crimes on a larger scale at an ever escalating price. But that’s ancient history! Even Bibi released 1027 terrorists, including Yahya Sinwar, for Gilad Shalit; and has continued cutting deals with the current devils in Gaza. That’s how he’s brought home nearly 90% of the living hostages and two-thirds of the dead to date. But can you expect anyone to thank him for that!?! The heartless man hasn’t yet batted a thousand! Of course, the understandably desperate families of the hostages and the empathetic Israeli public have unwittingly undermined those negotiating on the hostages’ behalf by broadcasting our culture’s vulnerability to enemy manipulation while faulting those who are trying to free the captives. But that doesn’t matter! Let’s remain laser focused on one thing. Ultimate responsibility for Israel’s new strategic reality, postponement of a plan for “the day after,” and the restoration of hostages to their homes under challenging circumstances rests with one man and one man alone: BLAME BIBI!