Netanyahu keeps putting himself before Israel, proving he is unfit to lead - opinion

ByYAAKOV KATZNOVEMBER 13, 2026 13:42

Imagine if, in the weeks after the October 7 massacre, once the situation in southern Israel had been stabilized, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had gone on national television, looked into the camera, and taken responsibility.

Imagine if he had told the battered and traumatized nation that the government he led had failed, that he bore responsibility for the failures that allowed the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust to take place and that – once the war was over – he would establish an independent investigation into what went wrong, from which no one, including himself, would be exempt.

And imagine if, alongside that admission of responsibility, Netanyahu had embarked on a journey across the country, attending funerals, visiting shiva (mourning) houses, sitting with the families of the hostages, listening to the stories of those who had lost loved ones and showing not just sympathy, but humility, pain and solidarity.

Would it have changed everything? Of course not. The failures of October 7 could not be erased by an apology alone. But imagine what it might have done for the healing of the country, as well as for Netanyahu himself.

He could have transformed his image from that of a leader who had divided the country in the year preceding October 7, into one who was working to unite it. He could have demonstrated what leadership is ideally meant to be – the willingness to accept responsibility, to acknowledge mistakes and to recognize that the interests of the country must always come before those of its leader.

Of course, that is not what happened.

Netanyahu did not embark on a national and personal reckoning, but instead chose his traditional path of deflection. In doing so, he missed not only a political opportunity, but something far more important: an opportunity to fulfill one of the most basic responsibilities of leadership.

Unsurprisingly, three years later, he is still missing it. Just look at the last few days leading up to last month's election. Instead of presenting Israelis with a positive vision for the future, Netanyahu tried to convince people that if he lost, Israel would cease to exist. He shared an AI-generated image of Tel Aviv engulfed in a nuclear explosion and gave a speech warning that Israel's annihilation was a real possibility.

It was the politics of fear taken to an extreme.

Then came the election results. A majority of Israelis voted against Netanyahu, granting the anti-Netanyahu bloc 67 seats while the parties in the current coalition won only 53. Gadi Eisenkot might not yet have a clear or easy path to form a government, but the Israeli people spoke loud and clear – a majority of Israeli citizens want Netanyahu out of office.

That could have been another opportunity for Netanyahu to demonstrate a different kind of leadership – one marked by humility, accountability, and a recognition of the moment. But just like after October 7, he proved incapable, and as we witnessed on Tuesday, at the swearing-in ceremony of the 26th Knesset, his politics of fear, division, and fire and brimstone remain unchanged.

The opening of the Knesset

The opening of a new Knesset is supposed to be a celebration of Israeli democracy. It is an opportunity for Israel to remind itself, and the world, that it is the only true democracy in a Middle East packed with authoritarian regimes and known for political repression.

Israel holds free elections, protects freedom of speech and gives its citizens, regardless of religion, ethnicity or gender, the right to vote and elect representatives to parliament.

There is something remarkable about that, particularly after everything this country has endured over the past three years.

The election itself should have been a source of pride. Turnout was exceptionally high. Arabs Israelis, who make up roughly 20% of the population, participated in historic numbers, electing a record 19 lawmakers to the Knesset.

But instead of using the occasion to celebrate the democratic process, Netanyahu delivered a speech warning that a government supported by Arab parties would endanger Israel's very existence. He accused their representatives of supporting terrorism and seeking the destruction of the Jewish state.

No one is obligated to agree with the Arab parties or sit with them in a coalition. Netanyahu and any other politician can have deep ideological disagreements with them. But there is a huge difference between opposing a party's policies and portraying its participation in the democratic process as a threat to the country's survival.

There is also an extraordinary hypocrisy in what Netanyahu said on Tuesday. In 2021, he famously pursued Mansour Abbas and Ra'am and tried to bring the party into his coalition. He met several times with Abbas at the Prime Minister's Residence on Balfour Street and sent him to meetings with senior religious-Zionist rabbis in an effort to secure their approval for the political arrangement.

When Netanyahu needed Ra’am, the party was perfectly kosher. Now, when Eisenkot might need it, Ra’am has suddenly become an existential threat. The argument put forward by Netanyahu’s advisers – that his willingness to sit with Ra’am came before October 7 – is meaningless.

They now express outrage that Mansour Abbas supposedly refuses to call Hamas a terrorist organization, even though he has indicated he is willing to do so. But why wasn't this a problem back then? Hamas was a ruthless, murderous, and barbaric terrorist organization long before October 7. Nothing about it was a secret.

More importantly, though, how can we pretend that Netanyahu’s rhetoric does not impact the country? It sends a message that Arab citizens are not equal and that their democratic rights are somehow second-class. What does it accomplish other than widen divisions and turn millions of Israelis against one another?

What makes this particularly concerning is that it is not happening in a vacuum. At the same time that this political farce is playing out in the Knesset, we are potentially on the verge of a military conflict that could escalate into a regional war.

According to various reports, tensions are running high between the prime minister and Israel’s security chiefs over his continued effort to push for military action against Iran. This comes even as US President Donald Trump has said publicly that, as of now, there is no reason for a military strike.

It is impossible for any of us to know whether military action is needed right now and whether whatever Netanyahu is reportedly pushing could potentially wait a month or even a few months. We do not have access to the raw intelligence that the prime minister sees.

But we cannot pretend that there is nothing suspicious about military threats and security challenges being touted and played up at a time when someone's political future is on the line.

Can we say for certain that a military operation will not be launched to try to rescue his political career? Unfortunately, no. Can we say for certain that a war will not be launched to try to prevent a transition of power? Unfortunately, no.

Can we say for certain that if Eisenkot succeeds in forming a coalition, on the day he brings it to a vote, people will not try to block access to the Knesset, like what happened in the US on January 6? Unfortunately, no.

Perhaps the saddest part is that Netanyahu remains an extraordinarily talented politician, a man who has demonstrated an ability to understand the Israeli public and shape the country's political agenda unlike almost anyone else. Imagine what he could have accomplished had he used those talents to heal rather than divide.

But after all these years and especially after Tuesday, it is clear that this will never happen. We do not need another term in office, another election campaign or another national crisis to discover what kind of leadership Netanyahu is capable of offering.

We have seen it, and that is ultimately the tragedy of these missed opportunities. Netanyahu could have chosen to become the leader who helped Israel heal after its darkest day. Instead, he has continued to act as though the greatest danger facing the country is the possibility that someone else might lead it.

Israel will emerge stronger after the prime minister is changed. It has done so before, and it will do so again. What it cannot afford is to continue being led by a man who thinks he is more important than the nation.

The writer is a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI), a co-founder of the Middle East America Dialogue (MEAD), and the author of four books on Israel’s defense and national security.

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