The Protector of Israel
Yaakov Katz is the Jerusalem Post’s editor-in-chief. He is also, as a member of the media, a fierce critic of Benjamin Netanyahu.
But I repeat myself. For 25 years at least, all mainstream media, globally, have hated Israel’s now-longest-serving prime minister. In 1997, a piece appeared, “The Year of Hating Bibi,” that accurately reflected the media’s almost spiritual hatred of the Right.
This week, Katz’s latest piece about the subject began this way:
“Does Netanyahu not realize what he is doing? Does he not understand that speaking this way will turn part of the country against our criminal justice system?”
(In a case with eerie similarities to Donald Trump’s “trials” with the jackals in American Elitism, Netanyahu finds himself fighting corruption charges.)
Kaatz cites an interview that the Post’s Lahav Harkov conducted with Netanyahu, in which the prime minister responds when asked how he will be remembered:
“The protector of Israel.”
Katz thinks that’s over-the-top.
Look, all politicians have egos. They wouldn’t achieve what they have if they didn’t. But I believe in Netanyahu’s case, it is justified.
(Just as I feel it is a justified term of description for Ariel Sharon, notwithstanding his withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, a decision that increasingly looks to have been wrong. Sharon, however, devoted his life to fulfilling a mandate his father had given him early on: Never turn your back on your own people.)
Perhaps the smoothest politician in modern times, Netanyahu also served in combat units in Israeli wars. As a member of the elite commando unit Sayeret Matkal, Netanyahu took part in still-classified operations that defended the nation. He was also wounded in the Sabeena airliner hijacking in 1972. He led the operation, posing with his soldiers as maintenance crew, when they stormed the plane and eliminated the PLO terrorists. Interestingly, the commander of the Unit at the time was another future prime minister, Ehud Barak.
Kaatz is angry with Netanyahu for fighting corruption charges. He cites Netanyahu’s previous condemnation of Ehud Olmert during his corruption trial. I think though that Bibi’s current situation is much more politically-motivated than Olmert’s was. Again, the comparison with Trump shows that it is the Left that is morally flawed. They simply hate men (and women) that make Israel’s safety their priority.
I also find it interesting that Katz taught in 2012-2013 at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. That placed him in the center of the liberal universe.
So you have to check a person’s motivations. We all have agendas. We all have biases. We all deal in propaganda. The question is, whose bias is true?
Overall, though he has flaws like all humans, I believe Netanyahu has always loved his country and fought like a tiger for it.
In the end, his enemies will answer for their unjustified attacks against him.