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Kidnappings put Netanyahu back on offense

The abduction of teenagers in the Hebron region puts an end to Netanyahu’s political hard times, and, without a dominant defense minister such as Ehud Barak at his side, he is seen, even by the left, as a balanced authority on matters of security and leadership.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures during a news conference in Tel Aviv June 15, 2014. Israel said on Sunday Hamas militants had abducted three Israeli teenagers in the occupied West Bank, warning of "serious consequences" as it pressed on with a search and detained dozens of Palestinians. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3TVSJ
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Political columns in the Israeli Friday/weekend papers described Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the big loser after Knesset member Reuven Rivlin was elected president of Israel. They all offered sweeping accounts of the rage against him in the Likud Party. But within a few hours, all of that became irrelevant.

The kidnapping of the three teenage boys suddenly dominated both the media and the public agenda. And it was with the same rapidity that Netanyahu regained his stature as the responsible adult in the room, and the person with the most diplomatic and security mileage in the government and Cabinet.

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