FPI / March 31, 2023
Dossier: Benjamin Netanyahu’s Skillset
Benjamin Netanyahu has endured as Israel’s prime minister for most of the last two decades by finding the right balance between his core constituents at home and the leadership in Washington, D.C. who, for the most part, call the shots, an analysis said.
Netanyahu, 73, is able to “talk the talk of his religious and nationalist constituency while toeing the American line regardless of how shabbily he is treated,” independent journalist Steve Rodan noted.
Netanyahu is currently serving his third round as prime minister, racking up more years in the position than even Israel’s founder David Ben-Gurion.
“A large portion of the electorate accepts virtually anything Netanyahu does under the slogan ‘Only Bibi,’ ” Rodan wrote in a March 28 substack.com post.
How does he do it?
“It hasn’t been simple, but Netanyahu has managed to maintain stability in an Israel controlled by the United States. His appeal is not to the tiny secular Jewish community, rather the Sephardic and religious majority that grows bigger by the year. To the horror of the secular elite, Netanyahu’s constituency wants to get in the driver’s seat,” Rodan wrote.
It took decades for Netanyahu to be transformed into Washington’s most important asset in the Middle East.
“He lived most of his early life in the United States and was discovered in MIT in the early 1970s as a brilliant orator and quick study,” Rodan noted. “He was recruited by the Boston Consulting Group, a company with close government connections and super-rich clients around the world.”
As they helped mold the public Netanyahu, the Americans knew how to reward as well as punish him.
“When he showed too much independence and hubris in his first term as prime minister, then-President Bill Clinton worked hard for his opponent (Ehud Barak), who beat Netanyahu in 1999,” Rodan noted.
After taking a break to make millions as a consultant, Netanyahu returned to Israeli politics within three years, first as foreign and then finance minister — and finally as prime minister in 2009.
In his second tenure, “Netanyahu learned his lesson,” Rodan added. “He would never challenge Washington on any issue with the exception of Iran. And when push came to shove, the prime minister backed down from ordering air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.”
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Netanyahu’s secret: Balancing two warring constituencies, one of which is in Israel added by Editor One on
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