Bibi Netanyahu meets with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi (Photo: GPO)
As growing respect overtakes home-grown fury, the ultimate question looms: will Bibi strike Iran against Biden’s wishes?
By Joel C. Rosenberg | All Israel News
WASHINGTON, DC — One year after the horrific invasion of Israel by Hamas from Gaza, and missile launches from Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israelis’ fury at Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu is being replaced – at least among some on the right – by newfound respect and support.
Why?
As I explained on Newsmax TV yesterday, the reason is simple: Netanyahu is showing steely resolve and astonishing success in his strategy to defeat Hezbollah and Hamas, so even Israelis who had been angry with him are begrudgingly grateful and cheering him on to be bolder and hit Iran and its terror proxies even harder.
What’s more, a growing number of Israelis are impressed and grateful that Netanyahu is courageously defying world leaders such as American President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and UN Sec.-Gen. António Guterres and actively resisting their intense pressure on Israel to accept a ceasefire rather than push for what Bibi calls “total victory.”
Netanyahu’s masterful defense of Israel’s right and responsibility to fight and win in his July speech to a Joint Session of Congress here in Washington was likely the turning point in the polls.
Many Israelis were impressed with Bibi’s wartime successes and his capacity to build support and sympathy for Israel in the capital of our most important ally.
POLITICAL WINDS ARE SHIFTING IN ISRAEL
Most of the American and international media aren’t paying any attention, but the political winds are shifting in Israel.
Last month, for example, Netanyahu’s government coalition actually grew by four seats – from 64 to 68 – despite many pundits and prognosticators around the globe predicting its imminent demise.
That’s because Knesset Member Gideon Sa’ar, a one-time close political partner of Netanyahu who became one of his fiercest rivals, decided to accept Bibi’s invitation to join the government and Sa’ar brought his small political party, New Hope, with him.
Sa’ar, who previously served as Israel’s justice minister and education minister, did so because he saw Netanyahu taking much bolder and decisive action against Hezbollah and Hamas and decided that Netanyahu needed more help on his right flank to resist U.S., French, British, and UN pressure to surrender.
NETANYAHU’S POLL NUMBERS ARE RISING
It’s not just Sa’ar and his colleagues who are shifting.
In the days after the Oct. 7 massacre of 1,200 Jews along the Gaza border, Netanyahu’s poll number plunged to the lowest of his long and storied career.
But in recent weeks, Netanyahu’s poll numbers – as well as those of the Likud party that he leads – have been steadily rising.
The latest poll shows that “if elections were conducted now, Netanyahu’s Likud Party would receive 31 Knesset seats” despite having sunk to the teens in many polls over the past year, notes Israeli columnist Caroline Glick, who writes for the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS).
“In head-to-head suitability for prime minister match-ups, Netanyahu now leads Gantz 52%-25%,” Glick noted. “He leads opposition leader Lapid 54%-24%.”
The only political figure who consistently polls higher than Netanyahu is former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
According to the latest survey, “40 percent of respondents said that in a head-to-head match, they believed Bennett was more suited to steer the country, while 29% chose Netanyahu,” the Times of Israel reported.
Yet, even those polls were conducted before Netanyahu ordered the decapitation strikes that killed 18 of the most senior Hezbollah leaders, including the terror group’s leader for the past 32 years, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.
Netanyahu’s popularity may be still higher today.
THE BIG TEST IS IRAN
Elections in Israel are not scheduled until October 2026, so these polls are only snapshots of the public mood, not predictors of Israel’s next government.
The big test now is this: How will Netanyahu handle the recent attack by the Iranian regime with nearly 200 missiles fired at Israel?
Biden is urging Netanyahu not to launch a large-scale strike and certainly not to target Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is telling Netanyahu just the opposite.
So are Bennett, Senator Lindsey Graham, former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton, and others.
What will Netanyahu do?
“This is the moment” of decision, I said during an appearance on “America Right Now” on Newsmax yesterday.
“I think Netanyahu is ready,” I noted. “He’s been ready. For 12 years he wanted to do this, but [today] the whole system is unified. And I’ll tell you, Biden will not help us. [Vice President Kamala] Harris will not help us. And so this is the moment to strike. And I believe six months from now, maybe less, Israel will be the dominant superpower in the Middle East.”
“We will have gone from our lowest moment in modern history to the greatest moment of peace and security,” I continued. “And the Saudis will make peace with us. The Indonesians will make peace with us. The Lebanese might rise up and overthrow the rest of Hezbollah, and they may want a peace treaty with Israel, too.”
“This is a huge moment, but it’s a test for Netanyahu. He’s not going to get help from Washington, so he’s got to go it alone. But he should, and all Israelis are with him.”
“We are fighting an existential threat,” I argued. “We need to win decisively. We are not looking at cease-fires. We don’t want ceasefires. We want to win.” ##