Netanyahu Loses His Cool in a Summer of Crises

This summer has been a tumultuous one for Israel, and for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with two-thirds of Israelis in a recent poll registering their dissatisfaction with his handling of the crisis at the Temple Mount. Long regarded as a master strategist, Netanyahu of late seems to be making bold moves that later back him into a corner.

The most recent example came this week in the case of Elor Azaria, the Israeli soldier convicted of manslaughter for having killed an already incapacitated terrorist in Hebron last year. Although Netanyahu has recently been much more careful about expressing his views regarding Azaria’s appeal before a military court, few in Israel have forgotten that when news of the shooting first broke, Netanyahu was quick to show support for the soldier. When a military court convicted Azaria and sentenced him to a year and a half in prison, Netanyahu advocated that he be pardoned.