Haaretz: Foolish Netanyahu led Israel to its worst year and worst war

History won’t judge Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a righteous warrior leading the West in a holy war against what he sees as Islamic fascism.

Rather, history will view him as the foolish politician who blindly led Israel into the events of October 7, 2023, and all the disasters that followed.

An Israeli diplomat and writer, Alon Pinkas, wrote in Haaretz newspaper, in which he said that October 7 was undoubtedly the worst day in Israel’s history, and then it turned into the worst year, leaving deep scars on the Israeli psyche that are difficult to fully understand and appreciate.

Pinkas mentioned the attack launched by Hamas and the war that followed it and is still raging in Gaza, and the Israeli government’s abandonment of 100 prisoners in Hamas tunnels and the expansion of the war to Lebanon, then a possible direct confrontation with Iran, pointing to impressive tactical successes against Hezbollah leaders but without strategic benefits.

On the first anniversary, when the Israelis were in a state of turmoil, despair and deep grief, the writer says, all the prime minister said at the government meeting was that he proposed changing the name of the war from “Iron Swords” to “Komemiyut War,” meaning the War of Independence.

Pinkas pointed out that many strategists and orientalists are now very enthusiastic when thinking about Israel striking Iran.

They claim that eliminating Hezbollah and striking Iran with a devastating and deserved military strike would positively change the strategic landscape in the region, and would have great consequences in the form of a new Middle East, a positive reshaping of the negative dynamics in the region, and a change in its so far ominous course.

While the attack on Hezbollah and the preemptive strike on Iran may seem justifiable, what is questionable is the recurring stupidity of believing that it’s possible to reshape the region and Israel’s position in it without any reference or consideration to the Palestinians and the perpetual, unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Without going into the possibility of successfully destroying Hezbollah and showing Iran as a “paper tiger,” this can be done without a war with Iran, but the same megalomaniac who told Congress in 2002 that the invasion of Iraq would change the Middle East, would have enormous positive repercussions and would hasten the downfall of the Iranian regime, is now convinced that he can dismantle the region and rebuild it immediately militarily, because when all you have is a hammer, every issue and every challenge looks like a nail.

Pinkas concluded that Israel doesn’t want to listen to words like those of Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, who said at the UN General Assembly last month, “We’re here as members of an Arab Islamic committee with a mandate from 57 Arab and Islamic countries, and I can say very clearly that we are all prepared to guarantee Israel’s security in the context of ending the occupation and allowing the establishment of a Palestinian state”.

However, Netanyahu simply doesn’t want a two-state solution, and therefore the goal of Israeli officials is nothing but wars, wars, and more wars.

Pinkas concluded by saying that Netanyahu doesn’t draw a strategy, but rather draws himself, and history will remember him only for the catastrophe of October 7.

Therefore, in this dark and painful moment of self-reflection, Israelis must remember that Israel will emerge from this crisis with a brighter future, and that no person in history has been more responsible for destroying his country’s brand than Netanyahu.