Opinion: Netanyahu Needs a War. He Needs It to Be With Iran. And He Needs It Soon

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu illustrated Iran's nuclear ambitions as he addressed the UN, Sept. 27, 2012. PHOTO: AP

Netanyahu needs a war because he’s desperate, and because a war might answer two of his more immediate needs

By Bradley Burston |  29 November 2017

HAARETZ — Benjamin Netanyahu needs a war. He needs it to be with Iran. And he needs it soon.

Netanyahu needs a war because he’s desperate, and because a war might answer two of his more immediate needs: First, an overarching, delaying-action distraction, and second, in the event a war should succeed even as his career fades, the single thing the prime minister wants the most in this life: a legacy.

He’s desperate now because he’s losing ground fast in the latest opinion polls. He’s desperate because after all these many years in power, obsessed by his place in history and his own wishlist comparisons with Winston Churchill, Netanyahu still has no legacy beside the number of all these many years in power.

He’s desperate because he’s fast losing the support of the bulk of North American Jews, and, perhaps more crucially to him, he may even be losing the backing of Sheldon Adelson.

Most of all, though, he’s desperate because as prime minister, he knows that he may not have much time left. […]

2 Comments on Opinion: Netanyahu Needs a War. He Needs It to Be With Iran. And He Needs It Soon

Post a Comment

Winter Watch

Discover more from Winter Watch

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading