Yesterday, Netanyahu made an extraordinary apology for failing to rescue Israeli hostages. But his apology was as cynical as Trump’s apology for his lewd remarks on the infamous Access Hollywood tape.
IDF soldiers found six dead Israeli hostages in a tunnel in Gaza on Sunday. This discovery provoked protests among tens of thousands of Israelis. They called Netanyahu a “murderer” and demanded an immediate cease-fire deal.
After all, the only hostages he’s managed to rescue alive were purely accidental. Most were released thanks to cease-fire negotiations, not his genocidal military misadventures. Netanyahu seems more interested in killing Palestinians than rescuing Israelis. If Israelis don’t get rid of this egomaniac by any means necessary, Hamas will end up executing all hostages.
Like with Trump, public outrage forced Netanyahu to beg for forgiveness. But he quickly mocked his own apology by returning to his usual stance. Netanyahu doubled down, claiming he’s doing “what’s necessary” to protect Israel from existential threats. As always, he brought up his old bogeyman: Iran.
For decades, Netanyahu has used gimmicky maps and charts to issue Chicken Little warnings that Iran was just months away from developing a nuclear bomb. He hopes this new round of fear-mongering will distract from his glaring failures, especially the Hamas attacks on October 7 that triggered Israel’s genocidal retaliation.
So, forget a cease-fire; Netanyahu has been systematically undermining every deal. This diabolical Iago is determined to draw the West into a regional war. He hopes it will make him a war hero — serving for life as prime minister instead of serving life in prison as a crook. The hostages, and peace in the Middle East, be damned.
President Biden accused Netanyahu of not doing enough to secure a cease-fire. However, he’s balancing the influence of pro-Palestinian protesters in swing states against the benefits of supporting Israel unconditionally. For now, Biden believes the latter is better for his legacy and for VP Kamala’s election chances in November. Kamala is so aligned with him that she denied a pro-Palestinian elected official’s request to speak at her DNC last month.
Yesterday, the UK upstaged the US by suspending arms exports to Israel. But Biden remains committed to providing unconditional support, risking greater complicity in Netanyahu’s genocidal war. And yes, Biden is denying Zelensky weapons that could prevent genocide in Ukraine while supplying Netanyahu weapons to execute it in Gaza.
Biden will have to answer to his maker and to resentful Ukrainians someday. In the meantime, he’s creating a Chamberlainian legacy of fearing an escalation in Ukraine while hoping for peace in Gaza. And this fateful legacy risks overshadowing his Washingtonian legacy of relinquishing power.
