JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was grappling with the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust exactly a year earlier: 3,800 trained Hamas militants out of a total of 6,000 Palestinians attacked southern Israel. October 7, 2023,
Iran-backed Hamas and its supporters committed unprecedented barbarity on a large scale in the territory of the Jewish state, including beheadings and burning of bodies, resulting in the mass murder of approximately 1,200 people, including more than 30 Americans.
The US-designated terrorist movement Hamas also abducted more than 250 people that fateful day, which shocked Israel, as have many of the wars fought this century by the tiny Jewish state against Iran-backed proxies. There was not even one of them. As of Monday, 101 hostages were still held in Hamas captivity.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended the funeral of Master Sgt. Gal Meir Eisenkot at Herzliya Cemetery in Herzliya, Israel on December 8, 2023. The 25-year-old son of cabinet minister and former army chief Gadi Eisenkot died in Gaza. (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
After a year of intense war with Hamas, which included opening six additional fronts against the Islamic Republic of Iran “Axis of Resistance,” Netanyahu has returned to face the existential threat to Israel. Several Israeli experts, including Israel’s top diplomat at the United Nations, told Fox News Digital that he is at his peak as a modern war planner and head of state.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu’s leadership in this war is an example of determination and courage.”
Widely read senior diplomatic correspondent Ariel Kahana said, “Netanyahu was in complete shock during the first hours on the first day of the attack, but at the same time, he understood what was happening and he controlled events. Netanyahu “Replied very quickly.” Hebrew-language daily Israel Hayom told Fox News Digital.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with troops deployed near the Gaza Strip in Jerusalem on October 18, 2023. (Avi Ohayon (GPO)/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Kahana referenced Netanyahu’s public announcement on October 7, in which he declared, “Citizens of Israel, we are at war, not in an operation or a round, but at war. This morning, Hamas launched a deadly attack against the State of Israel and its citizens.”
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israeli’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny DanonSaid, “This is not a war that Israel started nor is it a war that Israel wanted. But, under the leadership of Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israel has responded by destroying its tunnel infrastructure and killing its leaders. We have succeeded in reducing the threat of Hamas by expelling it.” Israel is successfully humiliating Hezbollah in the north by eliminating its senior leadership and launching a targeted operation in southern Lebanon with the goal of pushing the group north of the Litani River and reducing the terrorist organization’s threat to our northern border.
Danon, who is a member of Netanyahu’s conservative Likud party, said, “Although we are making progress, there is still work to be done. We still have 101 hostages who are in brutal captivity in Gaza, and we have There are still 70,000 Israelis who are refugees in their own country, unable to return to their homes in the north.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with troops at the Israel-Lebanon border on Sunday, October 6. (Haim Tzach/Israeli Prime Minister’s Office)
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Before October 7, Netanyahu was an embattled prime minister. His right-wing coalition government faced public humiliation when his administration was forced Abandon your judicial reform plan Due to massive opposition from civil society.
Now, with a series of tactical victories over top leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas, including Israeli control of much of the Gaza Strip, Bibi, as he is known by his nickname in Israel, has gained popularity in political polling. Is of.
“Bibi took the right actions against Hamas and Hezbollah. That’s why you see him rising in the elections.”
A turning point for Israel is the almost complete destruction of the US classified terrorist movement Hezbollah, including its leadership. leader hassan nasrallahin Lebanon.
The Lebanese state’s de facto ruler, Hezbollah, fired missiles at Israel on October 8, a day after the Hamas attack. Last week, Israeli ground troops entered southern Lebanon, with the aim of rooting out Hezbollah militants and missiles that had sparked the outbreak. The exodus of more than 70,000 Israelis from their homes in the north.
Kahana said, “Bibi took the right actions against Hamas and Hezbollah. That’s why you see him rising in the polls. He’s the only one to use the word victory. You don’t hear that from the security establishment.” He cited the examples of Bibi’s Defense Minister, Yoav Galant, and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, who “are not talking about the complete defeat of Hamas.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress in the chamber of the House of Representatives at the US Capitol on July 24, 2024. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
The veteran Israeli commentator said Israel’s capture of the southern Gaza city of Rafah was a vivid example of the conflict between Bibi and his war planners, Galant and Halevi. There was hesitation on the part of Gallant and Halevi, while Netanyahu wanted to accelerate the capture of Rafah, the last major base for major Hamas terrorist forces. Kahana lays out possible explanations ranging from Gallant and Halevi’s delay to the Biden administration’s intervention Expressed opposition to IDF operation In Rafah.
After a four-month offensive in Rafah, in September the IDF declared victory over Hamas’s Rafah Brigade. The incursion into Rafah also secured the release of four Israeli hostages in June. From May to September, the IDF killed thousands of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants in Rafah.
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Thousands of Israelis gathered in Ra’anana to pay their last respects to Almog Sarusi, who was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from the Nova Music Festival and died in captivity. (Yossi Zeliger/TPS-IL)
According to Kahana, “Bibi had to put pressure on the army to take action.” He compared Bibi to Britain’s World War II Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who demanded that his military do certain things but faced resistance. “Netanyahu bears full responsibility for what happened on October 7, but he is leading the war better than Gallant, Halevi and Benny Gantz,” Kahana said.
“What is the strategy in the war against Hezbollah, what is the exit plan?”
Gantz, a retired general and leader of the main opposition party, left Bibi’s war cabinet In June.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved an attack against Hezbollah from a New York hotel. (Fox News)
Yet Bibi has many critics who believe he should have resigned on October 7 or a few months into the war against Hamas. Netanyahu has also been accused of releasing hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and thousands of Israelis have protested against his policies on an almost weekly basis since the war began.
Yossi Melman, a veteran Israeli columnist for the leftist Haaretz newspaper, is one of Bibi’s sharpest critics. “His performance is very poor,” Melman said, adding that Bibi has “no vision and no strategy.” Melman asked, “What is the strategy in the war against Hezbollah, what is the exit plan?”
A destroyed house riddled with bullets after a deadly October 7 attack by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip in Kibbutz Kfar Azza in southern Israel on November 2, 2023. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein/file photo)
“Most of his decisions are about political and personal survival,” he claimed.
Israel’s then-Attorney General, Avichai Mandelblit, accused Netanyahu of fraud, breach of trust, and taking bribes. In a legal saga that began four years ago and is still unfolding. Netanyahu has completely rejected all the allegations against him.
Melman also claimed that Netanyahu, along with his cabinet, military and security chiefs, refused to accept responsibility for the October 7 incident.
As one of Israel’s leading intelligence experts, he credited the penetration of Hezbollah’s leadership structure to “the last four heads of the Mossad and the military chiefs. Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, the Mossad, built up these capabilities over the years,” He said.
Thousands of Israelis protested against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government for not signing a ceasefire agreement with Gaza and demanding a hostage swap deal with Palestinians in Jerusalem on September 5, 2024. (Amir Abed Rabbo/Anadolu via Getty Images)
He also claimed that Netanyahu “strained relations with the US in an unprecedented manner. His performance is full of ingratitude. The US sent air carriers and the US provided.” $14 billion additional military aid and resupplied ammunition. Without it, Israel could not have lasted a year against Gaza and now Lebanon and Iran.”
Melman also said Bibi had failed to ensure the freedom of 101 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
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Caroline Glick, who served as an adviser to Netanyahu, took issue with the criticism against him, saying, “Prime Minister Netanyahu’s leadership in this war is a case study in tenacity and courage. Israel’s other political leaders and military leadership demanded That they surrender There is continued pressure from the Biden-Harris administration to stand down and let Hamas survive and accept Hezbollah’s continued presence on the border, which is enough with a purely defensive posture “
He added, “If Israel had agreed, its regional position would have completely collapsed. They refused. Their steadfast refusal to give up the fight and their determination to fight for victory is what allowed Israel to turn the tables.” Israel is winning today.” “A path that seemed unimaginable a year ago. Had it not been for Netanyahu, we would never have reached this turning point.”
