In his more than three decades in politics, Benjamin Netanyahu has accrued almost as many nicknames as he has election wins.
There’s “The Magician” for his uncanny ability to grab victory from the jaws of defeat. “King Bibi” for staying atop Israeli politics longer than anyone else. And, universally, though not necessarily affectionately: plain old “Bibi”. But there is another one he revelled in, and which now appears in tatters: “Mr Security.” How did it all go so wrong?
It remains unclear as to how more than 1,000 Hamas militants managed to take Israel by such devastatingly deadly surprise, murdering – as President Isaac Herzog wrote – more Jews in one day than at any time since the Holocaust.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
It remains unclear as to how more than 1,000 Hamas militants managed to take Israel by such devastatingly deadly surprise, murdering – as President Isaac Herzog wrote – more Jews in one day than at any time since the Holocaust.
Indeed, according to Amit Segal, chief political commentator for Israel’s Channel 12, the surprise would be if Bibi’s prime ministership survives this war.
History certainly provides a useful comparison: the last time Israeli intelligence failed to anything like this degree – and with so many casualties – was almost 50 years ago to the day, when Egypt and Syria invaded Israel on Yom Kippur.
But after 10 months of facing down protests against his controversial and divisive judicial overhaul, his corruption case – and a near-death experience – this is battered and beaten Bibi, not the vintage version.
Such has been the shock and anger over Hamas’ spectacular assault that Israeli voters may ben open to more extreme ideas.
“A certain portion of the population will expect a very, very harsh response,” said Plesner, “and it will be based on a zero-sum game: it’s either us or them.” And this time, “Mr Security” may fail to deliver.
The original article contains 767 words, the summary contains 197 words. Saved 74%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Hamas attack failures
I hate it when journalists shorten headlines to the point of ambiguity (This is a common way to save one short word but it only works if the noun/adjective forms of the attacking party are different)
Gosh, it’d be wonderful to see an end to the Netanyahu governments. I was really hoping the corruption scandals would do him in but I’d love to see a more level-headed person in charge.
Let’s hope so - that way at least a good thing can come out of this horrible situation
I hope Israel kicks this clown out of office.
He is responsible for hundreds of people getting killed.
