Bibi Has Been A Disaster

"Je M'Apose!"

Someone in a comment asked me why I think Benjamin Netanyahu has been a disaster.

TLDR. I object to the way he has behaved toward my political system and my community. I object to a foreign leader treating American Jews as pawns in his domestic battles. And I object to the idea—sometimes implied, sometimes stated—that American Jews owe political allegiance to him or to any Israeli government. Je M’Apose!

TLDR TLDR. Bibi is an egomaniac who has alienated most of America and driven his own country into a strategic ditch.

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First: boundaries and premises. I’m American. What Netanyahu does as an Israeli politician is for Israelis to judge. ¹

My concerns are purely from an American perspective, both general and specifically Jewish. In no particular order:

1. He has repeatedly inserted himself into American politics, in ways that I think were inappropriate, destabilizing, and corrosive to the relationship between American Jews and the American political system.

2. He’s openly, flagrantly aligned with Republicans. This is outrageous and inappropriate and presumptuous. For decades, Israel’s leaders worked hard to maintain bipartisan support in the United States. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t (in reality, the support came from the Democrats) but they tried. Netanyahu broke that norm. The absolute breach of all that’s appropriate for a foreign leader to do was his 2015 speech to Congress—arranged behind the back of the sitting U.S. president. It still makes my blood boil. It also failed. If Netanyahu wanted to rail against the JCPOA from Jerusalem, fine. But in Congress? That the Republicans set this up is no defense. It’s further condemnation of Netanyahu’s lack of judgement and weaselly nature. Which reminds me:

3. He has no judgement and he’s a weasel. If you’re going to sell yourself as Mr. Realpolitik, do it well. He sucks at it. He bet the bank that Republicans would rule forever, and even if they didn’t, the hardheads would always be pro-Israel. In fact, it’s turned out to be the opposite: the hardheads are going with the money, the numbers, and the power. Some of Israel’s “story” is emotional. So don’t make yourself into a nightmare to deal with. Don’t alienate half of America.

4. He disdains non-Orthodox Jews — the majority of American Jews as we speak — like shit. Netanyahu has repeatedly signaled disdain for the religious streams that make up the majority of American Jewish life—Reform, Conservative, secular. The shelving of the Kotel agreement, the empowerment of ultra-Orthodox parties hostile to diaspora Judaism, and his rhetoric about “real” Judaism all sent a clear message: Give us your money and cover when we do things that look awful, otherwise shut the fuck up. That’s his prerogative as an Israeli politician, but I’m tired of the abuse.

5. His use of the U.S.–Israel relationship as a personal political tool. Netanyahu has treated American political divisions as an instrument for his own survival. I’ve already made this point but it bears refining: he has bamboozled naive Israeli voters into thinking that his cultivation of close ties with Republican leaders while openly antagonizing Democratic ones, even though American Jews overwhelmingly vote Democratic, somehow benefits Israel. How are Israeli voters to know that this is profoundly antagonizing to Americans, even ones that are sympathetic to Israel?

6. His cult of personality has legitimately made Netanyahu synonymous with, pardon me for saying this, “the Israeli brand.” I know that the hard core DSA loonies hate Israel and not Netanyahu, but they’re relatively few. A lot of softer leftists just associate the two because for thirty years, they’ve been taught that. Netanyahu = Israel has been ceaselessly drummed into their ears, Netanyahu is a right wing American politician… why shouldn’t they think that?

7. His supreme arrogance has led him to pull cringeingly embarrassing stunts, which mortified American Jews:

   1. The time Netanyahu met Jonathan Pollard on the tarmac, cameras positioned to capture the embrace. It gave Israel-haters from right to left a big fat gift. A persistent question about American Jews is “to what do you owe your primary loyalty?” and acknowledging this isn’t to endorse it. Bibi’s answer: Israel.

   2. Netanyahu’s delayed acknowledgment of Joe Biden’s 2020 victory. He waited roughly twelve hours after major U.S. networks called the race—long after other world leaders had issued their statements—and when he finally did congratulate Biden and Harris, he did it not once but twice, in two separate, highly produced video messages: one after the election and another on Inauguration Day. He managed to piss off Democrats (for waiting so long) and the MAGA crowd (for issuing the videos). It was massively over the line, fawning, sycophantic, and CRINGE.

8. His reaction after the Charlie Kirk assassination deserves special condemnation. That was a delicate situation that required tact. Of course, within hours, minutes, the usual conspiracy ecosystem began implicating Israel.² A credible suspect was found, a lone individual with a political grievance but even so (or perhaps because of it), the conspiracy mongers geared up into next-level frothing rabid mode. Normal people saw through this. (We do have a few left in the US.)

   Not Bibi! He wasn’t satisfied, because if it isn’t All About Bibi, he’s unhappy. No one ever told him that oxygen comes from attention, not silence. He immediately inserted himself into this febrile (but brittle, fragile, and online) hysteria, loudly asserting that Israel had nothing to do with it, and “Charlie” loved Israel, I have a letter, etc.

   A foreign leader of Netanyahu’s stature responding directly, on camera, and with visible indignation elevated a fringe accusation into something that looked like a legitimate bilateral dispute. The way to suffocate those fumes would have been a terse, written dismissal from the foreign ministry—nothing more. Treat it as the gutter trivia it is and wait for the law to render its judgement.

9. The pattern in these stunts and pivots is this: They’re not about ideology or Israeli policy; they’re about Netanyahu’s obsessive need to place himself at the center of every frame. The Pollard tarmac embrace, the double‑video congratulations to Biden, the on‑camera denunciation of fringe accusations after Charlie Kirk’s murder—each one reflects the same impulse. A leader who cannot resist inserting himself into political symbolism ends up distorting it. And in this case, the fallout lands right here, on American soil, in the civic space where American Jews actually live. Which brings me to my final point: Although he despises American Judaism, he thinks of us as not exactly citizens, but agents living in an illegitimate exile. He demands that American Jews show allegiance to Israel, and that Israel equals fealty to him.

   JE M’APPOSE!!!

10. I’m repeating myself but what the hell: his judgement sucks. I’ve consistently defended Israel against the scurrilous charge that it “dragged” the US into a war. There’s no evidence for that. This stupid, ruinous, ill-advised war was Donald Trump’s decision – but it goes both ways. It was also Netanyahu’s decision. He should have known better. How goddamn many articles have been written about the inadequacy of air power to win a war? Did he not know that unpopular regimes can become popular when the country is attacked? People unite when they become a target….where have I heard that?

11. Which brings me to the lack of preparedness for October 7. I said I wasn’t going to speak about internal Israeli affairs, but this catastrophe does go beyond Israel’s borders, so I’ll talk about it briefly.

    Immediately after the Nukhba invasion, we sent a carrier group to Lebanon³ and a week later, followed that up with another carrier group. TWO CARRIER GROUPS. That prevented a northern invasion, and thus saved Israel’s national life or prevented Armageddon. If Hezbollah had invaded the north, Israel would have been mauled but probably would have gone nuclear.

    Also, we provision much of Israel’s arsenal, which took away from other theaters (Ukraine, Taiwan). So yeah, it’s my business.

    Netanyahu fucked that up.

I have no opinions on who should or will take his place. I can only say why I think he’s been terrible.

Je m’appose!

1. For what it’s worth, even his worst enemies concede he’s a brilliant politician. He’’s been PM for the better part of thirty years so he must be — although this also speaks to something structurally screwy in Israel which creates such a vacuum and such an opportunity for a guy like him to hold such a tenacious grip on power….This kind of says all.

2. I say “of course” not only because it’s Israel, but because the Kirk murder was an assassination and Americans have a justified skepticism about official assassination stories and — it’s the algorithm, baby. Check the stats of any of the online carnival barkers and you’ll see their traffic shot up in September 2025.

3. Guys, this is a big story that got buried, and I don’t think the reason it got buried was nefarious. The attack was so horrible that people just weren’t paying attention.

The U.S. Navy has 11 carriers on paper, but only 3–4 are typically deployable at any given moment because of maintenance cycles, training, and refits. Sending two means: stay in your own lane. We are not going to have a regional war here. Those CGs are bristling with all sorts of delicious “only in America” weapons systems. They are so beautiful, so deadly, they give people wargasms:

Aegis Cruisers & Destroyers (can track hundreds of targets simultaneously), SPY 1/Spy6 Radar (can track smaller threats), Our trusty SM2/6 missiles (can kill you at Mach 3+ anywhere its little mechanical heart desires, other short to medium range missiles, THE STAR, THE NUMERO UNO TOMAHAWK SYSTEM THAT CAN RAIN DOWN DEATH AT A THOUSAND MILES!!

Aircraft. A CG is a mobile air force base. After decimating southern Lebanon in about 10 seconds, air superiority would have been a formality. Submarines... and I won't even mention the Amphibious ready group - the Marines. The Marine guards outside embassies are so polite - want them in your country? You got ‘em.

One CG is death on your doorstep. Two is a comedy.

I vaguely was aware of the first CG when it was deployed - I didn’t know about the second until now, and the implications make me sick.