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How Will Israelis-and History-Judge Benjamin Netanyahu?
The Free Press • • world
Key Points:
- Israelis will vote in two weeks for the first time since the multifront war following October 7, with the election seen as a referendum on Benjamin Netanyahu's 19-year tenure as Israel's longest-serving prime minister.
- Netanyahu's main challenger, Gadi Eisenkot, a former army chief of staff who lost a son in Gaza, is running a close race against him according to polls.
- Yossi Klein Halevi credits Netanyahu for leading efforts to isolate Iran and achieving the Abraham Accords, Israel's first peace agreement with Arab countries.
- However, Halevi criticizes Netanyahu for facilitating the rise of a Hamas-controlled Gaza, empowering extremist factions within Israel, weakening the economy, and damaging key alliances, including with the United States.
- Netanyahu’s leadership is described as marked by a lack of accountability, political polarization, and prioritizing supporters over national unity, with a legacy seen as deeply divisive and controversial.
