WhatsappVery few Western leaders can claim that they set a clear goal to be achieved that seemed unachievable, and yet they accomplished their goal in a major way following 30 years of persistence. That is exactly what Benjamin Netanyahu seems on the cusp of achieving through his leadership of Israel’s decades-long battle against Iran.
Before Benjamin Netanyahu formally entered politics, he set up an institute that was founded on the principles of how to successfully win the war against terrorism. In the 1970’s, the most common mode of terrorism that the world faced was airplane hijackings. Israel’s position on this issue was established as a leader in this battle following two successful Israeli raids on hijacked airplanes. In one of them, Benjamin Netanyahu took part, and in the other, his older brother, Yoni, led the attack and was killed in the successful rescue operation.
Bibi figured out by then that his ticket towards entering Israeli politics would best come as an international spokesman for Israel with a specialty in combating terrorism and national security. He nearly always mentioned Iran as the head of the snake while all of Israel’s battles around its borders were with Iran’s proxies. He said time and again that Israel could never leave its eyes off of the main target Iran. He pushed hard for stiff US sanctions against Iran, coupled with dogged preparedness for a military response to any threat that Iran posed.
Bibi even managed to get through eight years of an Obama administration and four years of a Biden administration that walked back so many of the sanctions that held back Iran from getting closer to nuclear capability.
But the most amazing progress has been in the last year. Israel successfully responded to direct Iranian attacks on Israel with an attack that cleared out most of Iran’s defensive capabilities. But moreover, the most powerful proxy of Iran on Israel’s borders, Hezbullah, has been decapitated and weakened enormously. And all of this after Israel successfully responded to the Oct. 7th calamity with a year-long destruction of much of the Hamas terror network in Gaza.
Netanyahu is not ready to bow out of the world stage. He wants to be remembered as the Prime Minister who ensured Israel’s safety for decades to come by reshaping the Middle East for a future of calm and prosperity. Every week, it is looking more and more like he will accomplish his goal.
