The Other Man You Hate to Love
Binyamin Netanyahu – Bibi – has been Israel’s prime minister, intermittently, for almost 20 years. One would think that he is loved, liked, respected.
Well, not so much.
There are, of course, those who do. Like and respect him. But, there are not many (any) in politics who have had an entire election campaign built around their removal from power not because of policy or wrongdoing, but because they would simply like someone else – anyone else – to be in power. There is an ongoing attempt to neuter his power with charges of corruption, but that crusade is bogged down with the fact that Israel is at war, and an inability of the prosecution to actually make a case.
Netanyahu’s CV is quite impressive: He is a graduate of MIT, a member of the Sayeret Matkal elite special reconnaissance unit of the IDF, and a combat veteran wounded more than once in battle. In public life, he served as ambassador to the United Nations, deputy foreign minister, foreign minister, finance minister, defence minister, communications minister and interior minister. He was very good at all of those positions, and he is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. By all accounts he is very intelligent.
He is also very not liked. Several politicians on the right – Avigdor Leiberman, Naphtali Bennet, and Ayelet Shaked all at one point worked for him. They all left him.
Lest there be any misunderstanding regarding my personal position on Netanyahu, I will again make it clear: I am not a Likud Party member, and I am not a supporter of Netanyahu, or anyone else, for that matter. I don’t like or trust politicians. But for the here and now, he is the man I want in charge of this war effort.
The main reason is that he is smart. In fact, he is smarter than anyone else of prominence in Israel’s politics. None of the wannabe’s out there come close. Educated? Sure. Bennet has a law degree and is a successful businessman; Ehud Barak has a bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a master’s degree in engineering-economic systems from Stanford University. Lieberman has a BA in International Relations and Political Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. None of these, or any other challengers could do what Netanyahu has done over the last two and a half years. He has taken us through this war while contending with internal politics, litigation, and external pressure from allies to not do what is necessary to win. He gives off an air of clarity, focus and steadfastness. That is what good leaders do.
We are in the midst of making history here. In the context of Jewish heroes, what Binyamin Netanyahu has done – and is doing – places him in rather extraordinary company.
And you don’t have to like him to say so.