In his column last week calling for the replacement of Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel’s Prime Minister, Bret Stephens compared the situation to Britain’s replacement of Neville Chamberlain with Winston Churchill and observed, “Netanyahu might aspire to be Winston, but is really more of a Neville, whose bad deals with bad guys led to bad things.”
This crystalizes the irony of the political backdrop to the threats that Israel is presently facing. Chuck Schumer, Tom Friedman, and countless other officials and observers have breathlessly called for Netanyahu’s replacement. So has most of the Israeli public. The difference is, the outsiders seem to believe their idealized version of Yitzhak Rabin or Shimon Peres, whom they perceive (wrongly) to exemplify a passive, peace-seeking Israel, will rise from the dead to save the country. Those of us here, by and large, want a new leader for a very different reason: Because Stephens is right.
Israel wants to make deals with countries who have demonstrated their genuine desire to recognize our rights and build a stronger region together - as Sadat of Egypt did decades ago, as Emirati and Saudi leaders have done recently.
We don’t want more “bad deals with bad guys.” The lesson of October 7 is that such agreements compromise our security. They remind us that there can be no real security if Hamas still rules Gaza; that there can be no real security if the Mullahs still rule Iran - funding Hamas, Hezbollah, the Huttis, and as they demonstrated last night, threatening us directly.
Last night we were saved from catastrophe by technology and diplomacy. It turns out the billions of dollars and decades of research that brought us our current array of air defense systems was worth it in spades. And it turns out that helping our Sunni neighbors understand the threat that we jointly face meant that when the chips were down, they came through, despite occasional unfriendly rhetoric.
But beyond technology and diplomacy, we must look to history. And the lesson of history is that security can only come through strength, and a demonstrated determination to use our capabilities.
That is why it is imperative that Israel not let last night’s attack go unanswered. Especially not when Iran is as near as it is to developing nuclear capability (thanks, in part, to extremely horrific diplomacy over the past decade).
If Netanyahu does not answer the call, does not calmly explain to allies why Israel cannot turn the other cheek, any more than they would in the same circumstance, and hit back hard and effectively, that will be the final straw in his Churchill charade.
For years Israel has been forced to fight the arms of the octopus and ignore its head. Last night, its head attacked us directly. For our own stake, for the sake of our allies around the world, for the sake our incipient allies in the region - and most of all for Iran - now is the time to demonstrate confidence and resolve, and to truly deter future aggression from the octopus head or its arms.