Iâm not sure which game you mean, but I agree, Iâd much rather we not join the club in the first place. At the same time, I understand that politics is a dirty business, and that doing the unexpected, as Trump has done on this battlefield, can yield advantages or at least a strategic delay. If there is no concrete and immediate risk I can identify, Iâm willing to give him a chance, like I did with the Soleimani assassination and am doing now with his tariffs and 2A policies.
Speaking of dirty politics, the Bibi Files has some signs that it is more motivated by politics than by ethics. For example, the director gave interviews about it to Democracy Now and JStreet (a pro-Palestinian activist group). He also chose to premiere the film in Canada, which recently said it would enforce the unprecedented ICC kangaroo court arrest warrant against the Israeli PM for âwar crimesâ. The film presumes that the audience, like the producers, oppose the war in Gaza, calling it a âforever war,â without suggesting a practical alternative. (I never considered the two-state solution with a terrorist entity practical, and 10/7 is just further evidence that Hamas would not allow a stable peace.)
If you know anything about Israeli politics, you would know that there has been a very powerful authoritarian, secularist, leftist faction. That is the voicing and target audience of the Bibi Files. In some ways, this faction is comparable to the left in the US.
For as long as I can remember, Bibi has been a polarizing political figure, much like Trump. Those who hate him believe he is the archon of evil, and a corrupt and slippery politician. I would suggest that, considering those with whom Israel must negotiate, and the many political parties who must join together to form a coalition government, diplomatic sophistication is a critical requirement for the prime ministry. Netanyahu certainly has that sophistication. Nevertheless, with decades of high-stakes close elections and wins and losses, and the usual personal accusations that go along with this turmoil, corruption accusations have been constant.
Up until 10/7, the leftwing faction had enough influence to prevent Israel from taking decisive defensive action against Hamas, but after the massacres, Israeli public opinion shifted to the right. That is what allowed the war in Gaza to happen.
The latest slime campaign against Netanyahu has been an investigation into whether he was bribed by Qatar. He rebuts this, asserting that given the timing, this was clearly a maneuver to prevent him from dismissing Shin-Bet director Ronen Bar. Netanyahu had ordered Bar to report on intelligence failures leading to 10/7 and granted him several deadline extensions to do so, before finally making the decision to fire him for failing to deliver the report. On the due date, and day of Barâs firing, the Attorney General announced the aforementioned investigation into Netanyahu. It should be noted that the High Court which stayed Netanyahuâs order is itself accused of a leftwing anti-religious bias, and was the subject of a push for judicial reform until 10/7 put the reform campaign on hiatus.