Can Netanyahu Survive Israel’s War With Hamas?
The country’s longest-serving prime minister has a magician’s talent for freeing himself from political tight spots, and close observers say conflict only strengthens his ability to retain power.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Photo illustration: 731; Photographer: Abir Sultan/Getty Images
He’s thinner. Dark circles have settled in around his eyes. He mostly dresses in black shirts and pants rather than a suit and tie, the steward of a grim war machine more than a high-tech paradise. Not a day goes by without a commentator calling for him to resign.
Benjamin Netanyahu, 74, Israel’s longest-serving and most politically astute prime minister, is facing what can only be described as a difficult 2024. Just months ago, he seemed on the verge of sealing an historic deal by which the US would offer security guarantees to Saudi Arabia in exchange for its open embrace of Israel and symbolic Israeli concessions to the Palestinians.