Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is fighting for his political life. He is using all sorts of questionable strategies and even crossing more than a few red lines in his attacks on his rivals Benny Gantz and the Blue and White party. On the other hand, he is showing great restraint on the Gaza front, carefully considering Israel’s response to the rockets that have been fired from there at the center of the country. Netanyahu's critics on both the right and the left have not missed an opportunity to depict Netanyahu as surrendering to Hamas' terror, but he is actually acting responsibly, especially in the face of all those eager to go to war.
Yes, we’re talking about the same Netanyahu who is referred to disparagingly as “easily pressured.” It is the same Netanyahu who worked hard to unite the far-right Kahane activists’ Otzma Yehudit (Israel Power) and pro-settler HaBayit HaYehudi to avoid losing votes. It is the same Netanyahu who is almost always quick to dance to the tune of the right; the one who will not let New Right leader Naftali Bennett pass him from that direction. While Netanyahu's political rivals have been offering voters populist solutions on Gaza that would allegedly work miracles and ensure quiet for generations to come, Netanyahu has made a point of walking between the raindrops. He’ll raise a fist to assuage his most belligerent supporters and then order the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to act with all possible caution to avoid getting dragged into another military adventure lacking any purpose.
