The New York Times ran an 11,000-word article yesterday entitled “How Netanyahu Prolonged the War in Gaza to Stay in Power,” which they say is the inside story of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political calculations since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack. The story’s authors “spoke with more than 110 officials in Israel, the United States and the Arab world and reviewed scores of documents, including meeting minutes, war plans and court records.”
The story was published at a time when, the authors believe, Netanyahu is at the peak of his power, following a political resurrection facilitated in great part by the 12-day war with Iran. “But in the aftermath of this apparent triumph, a more fateful reckoning awaits Netanyahu over the war in Gaza,” the authors write. Many Israelis “increasingly believe that Israel could have struck an earlier deal to end the war, and they charge Netanyahu—who wields ultimate authority over Israel’s military strategy—with preventing that deal from being reached.”
“For obvious reasons, one of the most sensitive accusations about Netanyahu’s conduct of the war is that he prolonged it for his own personal political benefit. Whether or not they thought he had, everyone we spoke to agreed on one thing: The war’s extension and expansion has been good for Netanyahu. When the war began on Oct. 7, 2023—the day that Hamas and its allies killed roughly 1,200 people, both civilians and security personnel, and abducted some 250—it seemed set to end Netanyahu’s political career. The general expectation was the war would subside early in 2024, Netanyahu’s coalition would collapse and Netanyahu would soon be held accountable for the disaster.
“Instead, Netanyahu harnessed the war to improve his political fortunes, at first simply to survive and then to triumph on his own terms. Nearly two years after the catastrophic attack on Israel, and still facing serious charges of corruption, he has a good chance of governing Israel until a general election scheduled to occur by October 2026, when he will be 77—and he could well win it.”
