Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, is heading towards political oblivion following the failed war against Iran, according to a scathing analysis by Simon Tisdall. The ceasefire deal signed by US President Donald Trump in Versailles has been widely seen as a capitulation, and while Trump may survive the humiliation, Tisdall argues that Netanyahu will not.
Tisdall writes that Netanyahu's political obituary reads like a criminal indictment. He resisted a two-state solution with the Palestinians, failed to prevent the Hamas atrocities of 7 October 2023, and then visited genocidal vengeance on Gaza. He clung to power by giving far-right politicians key roles, undermined the 2015 nuclear pact with Iran, and his disproportionate use of violence has made matters worse across the Middle East.
The main reason for Netanyahu's downfall, Tisdall argues, is that he has poisoned the vital US-Israel special relationship. He and Trump are barely on speaking terms, and the White House blames him for drawing the US into an unwinnable conflict. Recent polls show that for the first time, more Americans sympathise with Palestinians than with Israelis, and many question whether the alliance serves US interests.
Tisdall concludes that Netanyahu's embrace of hard-right nationalist politics, support for unchecked territorial expansion, and failed wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran have fractured the old bipartisan consensus. With autumn elections approaching, Netanyahu is already yesterday's man.
