The American magazine "Atlantic" published a long article by Israeli writer Anshel Pfeffer, in which he says that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the worst prime minister Israel has ever had in its history.

Pfeffer, who writes frequently in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, added that most Israelis already realize that Netanyahu is the worst among the 14 prime ministers Israel has known in 76 years, but in the future Jews may remember him as the leader who inflicted the greatest amount of harm on the Jewish people during the 21 centuries. past.

Pfeffer - who published a book about Netanyahu in 2018 entitled “Bibi: The Turbulent Life and Periods of Benjamin Netanyahu” - explained that Netanyahu’s quest for power diverted Israel from confronting its most pressing priorities: the Iranian threat, the conflict with the Palestinians, and the desire to nurture a western society and economy in the most contentious corner of the Middle East, the internal contradictions between democracy and religion, and the clash between tribal terrorism and the hopes of advanced technology.

He pointed out that Netanyahu's obsession with his fate as Israel's protector had caused serious damage to it.

I wish he had retired

The writer said that if Netanyahu had accepted defeat in June 2021, and made way for a coalition of his opponents, he could have retired at the age of 71 with a decent claim to be one of Israel's most successful prime ministers.

Netanyahu has already surpassed, the writer says, the time spent by the founder of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, to become in 2019 the longest-serving Israeli prime minister, and his second term (from 2009 to 2021) coincided with what may be the best 12 years Israel has ever known in terms of security. And economic.

The writer pointed out that 12 years of Netanyahu’s leadership made Israel safer and more prosperous, with deep trade and defense relations around the world, but this was not enough to win another term, as the majority of Israelis were fed up with him, and he was accused of bribery and fraud in his dealings with billionaires and press barons. .

At that point, Netanyahu could have sealed his legacy, as the plea deal offered by the prosecutor would have ended the corruption trial by convicting him on reduced charges without prison time.

He would have to leave politics, perhaps forever. He had already left an indelible mark on Israel over four decades of public life, including 15 years as prime minister and 22 years as leader of the Likud Party, but he could not bear the thought of giving up power.

Pfeffer highlighted the “Al-Aqsa Flood” attack carried out by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) as Netanyahu’s biggest failure, saying that the disasters of that day, his failures, and the shocks he caused will haunt Israel for many generations, adding that even if we leave aside the war he has waged against Gaza since that day, its end is uncertain. As yet known, October 7th means that Netanyahu will always be remembered as Israel's worst leader ever.

Ben-Gurion, Eshkol, and Begin

The writer explained that there is no widely accepted classification of the 13 men and women who led Israel, but most lists put David Ben-Gurion at the top. He was not just the George Washington of Israel, but his administration created many institutions and policies that define Israel's identity to this day.

Other candidates include Levi Eshkol - says the writer - for his "smart and wise leadership in the tense weeks that preceded the Six-Day War, and Menachem Begin, for reaching the country's first peace agreement with Egypt."

These three men, he said, had mixed records and, of course, critics: Ben-Gurion had authoritarian tendencies and was consumed with partisan infighting during his final years in office. After the Six-Day War, Eshkol failed to present a coherent plan for what Israel should do with the new territories it occupied and the Palestinians who have remained under its rule ever since.

During Begin's second term, Israel entered a disastrous war in Lebanon and his government nearly destroyed the economy, but in the minds of most Israelis, the positive legacy left by these three outweighs the negatives.

"Worse than Golda Meir"

Until now, most Israelis considered Golda Meir the first candidate for the title of worst prime minister, as the intelligence failure that led to the October 6 war occurred under her administration. Before the war, it rejected Egyptian peace overtures, and when war was clearly imminent, its administration refrained from launching preemptive attacks that could have saved the lives of hundreds of soldiers.

Other "worst" candidates include Ehud Olmert, for waging the Second Lebanon War and becoming the first former prime minister of Israel to go to prison on corruption charges, and Yitzhak Shamir, for refusing to reach an agreement with Jordanian King Hussein that many believe could have been an important step toward a solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Ehud Barak, for his abject failure to fulfill his exorbitant promises to bring peace with both the Palestinians and Syria.

But Benjamin Netanyahu is now exponentially ahead of them. He has brought right-wing extremists into the mainstream of the government and made himself and the country indebted to them. His rampant corruption and terrible security decisions have brought an existential threat to Israel, which he pledged to lead and protect, and above all, his selfishness is unparalleled. .

Bringing the extreme right into state administration

The writer explained that Netanyahu is distinguished by being the only Israeli prime minister who made an alliance of convenience with "the most irresponsible extremists in Israel and made them an integral part of his party and the administration of the state."

He pointed out that Netanyahu placed these "extremists" in positions of power, undermined confidence in the rule of law, and sacrificed principles for the sake of power, adding that it was no wonder then that tensions over the role played by the Israeli judiciary last summer became out of control.

The debate over judicial amendments pitted two visions of Israel against each other. On the one hand, there was the liberal and secular Israel that relied on the Supreme Court to defend its democratic values, and on the other hand, there was the religious and conservative Israel that feared that unelected judges would impose ideas inconsistent with their Jewish values.

The Al-Aqsa flood came...

Netanyahu's 16th year in office, 2023, was the third bloodiest year in Israel's history, preceded only by 1948 and 1973, the first year of Israel's establishment and the year of the October War, respectively. The first 9 months of 2023 have already witnessed a rise in deadly violence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as Palestinian attacks within Israel's borders. Then came the Al-Aqsa flood.

In order to regain his position and remain in it, Netanyahu sacrificed his power and distributed it to the "most extreme" politicians. Since his re-election in 2022, Netanyahu has no longer been the center of power, but has become a vacuum, a black hole that has swallowed all political energy in Israel. His weakness has given the "far right" and religious fundamentalists extraordinary control over Israel's affairs, while other segments of the population have been left to pursue the never-ending quest to end his rule.

Source: Atlantic