Netanyahu On French TV — Epitome Of An Arrogant Leader Detached From The World

-Analysis-

PARIS — Benjamin Netanyahu was interviewed by the French television channel LCI on Thursday evening, after almost eight months of war and an appalling number of civilian casualties. And it was striking to see the abysmal gap between the Israeli Prime Minister’s discourse and the emotions of public opinion around the world.

Netanyahu was not to be expected to make the slightest concession to calls for ceasefires, or accusations of war crimes — especially those aimed directly at him. But his answers to journalist Darius Rochebin‘s questions show the incomprehension between an Israeli leader who feels victimized and besieged, and the sense of horror that prevails in the rest of the world, following images like those of the Rafah strike on Sunday that killed dozens of innocent Palestinians.

The main weakness in Netanyahu’s discourse is his lack of any vision for the “aftermath” — or rather, that in his view, nothing needs to be changed. Even if we accept his version of the war, of the lack of intention in the killing of civilians or of his fight against antisemitism, it is this absence of a future for Palestinians that is most worrying.

Lack of vision

Netanyahu rejects any prospect of a Palestinian statehood — at a time when three European countries have just taken the step of recognizing a Palestine as a state, and when there is a broad international consensus on the two-state solution.

Netanyahu is in trouble on all fronts and is reacting, as usual, by attacking.

Netanyahu envisages only “autonomy” for Palestinians in the long term, i.e. an eternal illegal occupation. How can he expect this to be acceptable to the millions of Palestinians concerned? And, above all, how can Israel hope one day to enjoy the security it hopes for, if it is not accompanied by justice for the “other” people present on this land?

At a time when the Israeli leader is suggesting that the war could last another seven months, i.e. right up to the U.S. presidential election, Netanyahu is also presenting a plan for Gaza that notably contradicts his American ally. He wants to remain in charge of security and, in his words, “be able to enter at any time,” should the need arise.

The European public

Netanyahu is in trouble on all fronts and is reacting, as usual, by attacking. He cannot claim victory in Gaza after more than seven months of war. He has been indicted by international justice for his strategy and civilian casualties. And finally, on the domestic front, his political rival Benny Gantz has just tabled a motion of censure in an attempt to provoke early elections.

Threatened with becoming a pariah, he counters by denouncing antisemitism, which is obviously a worrying reality on the rise, but which he also uses against international judges who deserve better, and against all critics of the type of war being waged in Gaza.

In the end, by coming on French television, he tried to co-opt the European public into his war, claiming that Israel’s victory would be “our victory.” I’m not sure French viewers felt that way when they heard Netanyahu Thursday night. But there’s a Yiddish word, with Hebrew roots, that sums up the Israeli Prime Minister’s attitude: “chutzpah” — the audacity.