After months of fierce criticism from every corner of the planet, after hundreds of demonstrations in Europe and North America, after repeated antagonistic marches that have flooded the streets of Israel for weeks, a new and ancient scenario is emerging: Bibi Netanyahu is in the saddle, or rather, he is governing in a dramatic moment for his country, or perhaps he is even proving to be the one who understands us best.
Let it be clear, especially to the critics who are on permanent active duty, in the Middle East there are no saints, there are no heroes, there are no righteous people who always make the wise, charitable, farsighted move. In those parts the game is heavy, because it is a world in which money counts, often capable of traveling outside the law, weapons count, which are used daily and certainly not at the shooting range, religions count, which are a devastating instrument of struggle for power when you want to use them for this purpose, the secret services count, which talk to each other every day and at the same time fight each other with every means. Israel is in the middle of all this, with its borders guarded by mortal enemies.
It is like this in the North, where Hezbollah militias launch rockets built in Iran while the UN contingent gets lost in the paperwork of the Glass Palace. It is like this in the East, where there is Assad’s Syria that does everything it can to threaten and strike. It is like this in the South, where there is Gaza and its dominant manager Hamas, the political-military movement that wanted, thought up, organized and carried out the massacre of October 7. Well, nine months after that date, we can say that Bibi Netanyahu himself is interpreting with a certain success the dramatic season that he has to manage. This is demonstrated by the internal front, where political adversaries and even critical allies (from Ehud Barak to Yair Lapid, from Benny Gantz to Itmar Ben Gvir) have long since stopped reasoning as if the Prime Minister’s exit from the scene should be considered as obvious as it is imminent.
However, this is also indicated by the international front, where the American acknowledgement (while waiting for the November vote) of the fact that today it is the main interlocutor is clearly evident (while giving due consideration to the Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and the director of the Mossad David Barnea). And the same goes for the English, the most prompt in providing military assistance on the European side, as well as for the entire Islamic world (Saudi Arabia in the lead, but also Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates) that intends to counter Hamas and its sponsors in every way.
And then there is the very delicate military side, where Israel has demonstrated to the entire world its ability to react in Gaza but above all outside, as seen in Tehran with the murder of Ismail Haniyeh, the latest in a long list of top Hamas figures eliminated in recent months.
Let’s be clear: the price paid in human lives in the Israeli reaction is very high. No one can forget it. But it is also equally true that this is mainly due to the fact that Hamas wants to fight among civilians at all costs, indeed it desires their sacrifice (this is the theme of a recent public speech by Haniyeh himself).
But above all, another incontrovertible fact is true: in the Islamic world, Hamas is supported by Iran and, in its own way, Turkey, while almost all the others (including Qatar) keep their distance (not with the same intensity).
That is, what Hamas hoped for did not happen: the uprising of the Islamic world against Israel to block its reaction. Indeed, if we want to tell the whole truth, it was precisely in Tehran that we saw the impressive weakness of the regime, incapable of protecting the political leadership of the Palestinian movement.
Here then is the reality, uncomfortable and indigestible for many beautiful souls of the Old Continent (Italy is full of them too): the indefensible Bibi is in the saddle. And excuse me if it is not enough, while waiting for an Iranian retaliation that will come sooner or later.
#Indefensible #Netahyahu #Tempo
2024-08-08 20:43:24
