In January 2016 when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, he was just starting his fourth term as prime minister. As during his two previous terms, Iran was the biggest threat he faced, so he took advantage of the forum to meet with US Secretary of State John Kerry and express his strong reservations about the world powers' agreed upon nuclear agreement with Iran. Netanyahu also voiced his concerns about the agreement in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria. When asked how he wanted to be remembered, Netanyahu said, “I would like to be remembered as the protector of Israel. That's enough for me, protector of Israel.” Netanyahu, 66 years old at the time and already a veteran prime minister, wanted his legacy to be that of “Mr. Security.” In other words, he wanted to be seen as someone who would have no qualms about attacking the Iranian nuclear project. After all, from Netanyahu’s perspective, the program posed an existential threat to Israel.
It is therefore somewhat ironic that the war against the novel coronavirus has emerged as the biggest issue that Netanyahu has been forced to deal with in his 14 years as prime minister. It is not some elusive war with Iran that is shaping his legacy, but a social, economic and health crisis whose real impact is still too early to gauge. What makes the situation even more challenging is that this is happening while Netanyahu serves as a transition leader, a position he has held for more than a year. His indictment on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust only exacerbates his political entanglement.
