His critics are determined to cast the prime minister as the villain of the war. But only his steadfast focus on denying victory to Hamas forced it to surrender to Trump’s demands.
Barring any last-minute reversals, the post-Oct. 7 war is finally about to come to an end. President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the war in the Gaza Strip has been agreed to by both Israel and Hamas. That means that the remaining Israeli hostages should be coming home within days. Israel will pull back its forces to positions inside Gaza; however, the last remnants of the terrorist forces will still be isolated and in a position to be, as Trump says, “obliterated” should they not surrender their arms and give up their control of the enclave, as the plan demands.
This makes Trump the hero of the hour as he garners praise from even some of his most determined foes for achieving what everyone hopes will turn out to be peace. Yet accolades for the other person who made this outcome possible—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—are largely missing from the reactions to the news.
There are many reasons for this. Outside of Israel, it is mostly because Netanyahu is seen as a surrogate for Israel, a country whose actions and existence are the focus of a tsunami of biased coverage and ideological opposition largely rooted in antisemitism.