Good news from Israel. According to Reuters, opinion polls show support for Netanyahu is flagging. And in response, the thrice-elected leader “is casting his centre-left challengers as tools of a global campaign to usurp power.” He’s accusing “unspecified foreign governments and tycoons of funneling ‘tens of millions of dollars’ to opposition activists working to undermine his Likud party….”
Well, duh, Bibi. Maybe if you didn’t inject yourself into other countries’ business, the world wouldn’t see you as such a thorn-in-the-side jackass. Perhaps more to the point, your megalomania is a threat to Israel’s democracy and to any chance for detente with the Middle East.
Make no mistake about Netanyahu. This is a megalomaniac who actually claims to represent not just all Israelis, but all Jews.
As described by Slate Magazine, “When critics question his policies, he purges them from office, challenges their patriotism, and accuses them of serving foreign masters.” He has declared that he “will not tolerate opposition within the government.” And he has announced plans to pass a new law that would strip dissenting parties of their power to check the prime minister.
“In January, after the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris, France organized a massive march against terrorism. The French government asked Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas not to attend. France didn’t want Israeli-Palestinian issues or Netanyahu’s election campaign to cloud the message of the march. Netanyahu attended anyway. While there, he gave a self-aggrandizing speech.
"Having sown division in France, Netanyahu used his trip to quash dissent in Israel." He portrayed his participation at the march as a glory for Israel and asserted that he had gone to France “not only as prime minister of Israel, but as a representative of the Jewish people.”
Regardless of whether one supports Israel, it is clear Netanyahu is not a leader who can constructively carry the country forward in a Middle East that’s destabilized enough. Should he be re-elected, tensions there will increase, quite possibly to the point of large-scale war.
So, yes, Bibi. The peace-seeking world isn’t happy with you. For us, your defeat is long-overdue. And it'll be a good riddance when you're gone.
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[Having trouble getting links to work. So here are the two to Reuters and Slate.]
http://www.reuters.com/...
http://www.slate.com/...