Geneva deal seals Netanyahu’s legacy: An ineffectual leader

[DonViejo]

The prime minister wanted to 'save Israel.' He winds up alienated from the international community - and from his own base.

By Amir Oren | 16:31 24.11.13 |

Benjamin Netanyahu entered politics waving the banner of refusing to surrender to terrorism. In practical terms, the question has been on the agenda since the Jibril prisoner-exchange deal in 1985, when terrorists, including murderers, were released in exchange for Israeli hostages. To his chagrin, he became prime minister quickly and broke his vows wholesale. Murderers were allowed to go free, Yasser Arafat became his partner and Hebron was handed over to the Palestinians. His term from 1996 to 1999 had no effect on the progress of history: It was as though it had never happened.

When he ran out of Palestinian cards, he pulled out the Iranian card. Just as the Hanukkah song asks, “Who can recount Israel’s mighty acts,” who can recount the heroic deeds of Benjamin? He will save the nation in blood, fire and columns of fallout, whether it needs saving or not. The military and intelligence chiefs told him there was no need, not yet, but they did not understand Netanyahu, or perhaps, they understood him all too well. The means - the military operation - became the goal. To overcome the internal resistance to a war that is premature and unnecessary, he gave Ehud Barak, his defense minister, a former commanding officer, and the man who defeated him in the elections, absolute freedom to instigate quarrels in the military's upper echelon.

The facts prove that all along, Netanyahu erred in his assessments and his policy. Those who said Iran would not have nuclear weapons before 2014 were right, as were those who strived to stop Iranian nuclear armament through non-military means — a mixture of dialogue and sanctions. If Netanyahu and Barak's plans between spring 2010 and spring 2011 had succeeded, Israel would now be dealing with the wounds of the first Iranian war and preparing for the second, while Iran’s efforts to build a nuclear bomb would be about to finish restoring their nuclear program.

Netanyahu exposed Israel’s weakness in Washington and its weakness without Washington. His head-on conflict with U.S. President Barack Obama showed the world that at the decisive moment, the president chose American considerations, leaving Israel unable to act independently. This is not a new lesson. That is what happened in January and February of 1991, when the Bush administration forbade Israel to attack Iraq even though 40 ground-to-ground rockets fell on Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Haifa and Dimona over the period of a month and a half. Yitzhak Shamir pondered his decision and obeyed. Then-Deputy Minister Netanyahu wore a gas mask on television. The presenter was an actor, not a statesman.

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