Will Bibi win?
By Jim Fletcher
Michael Savage had a fascinating podcast this week. He was claiming that the
son of a friend, deployed on a ship in the Persian Gulf, is worried about bad morale in
the military. Specifically, he claimed that too many sailors are upset that we are fighting
“Israel’s war.”
This disturbing claim is part of a broader effort aimed at undermining all of Israel.
If the U.S. morale is manipulated like this, that answer is bad. If it isn’t true, but is being
used as propaganda, that answer is bad. We don’t actually know that truth, but I would
not be surprised if it is true. In which case, that is a massive failure by the administration
to explain the war goals and complexities. I don’t see that this has been done; the
overall American population does not understand that this is very much our war. How
can it be that it hasn’t been explained what a nuclear Iran could do to the U.S. Are we
too busy attending sporting events and concerts and reading fashion magazines? Have
we been dumbed down?
Another huge propaganda war raging now involves Israel’s upcoming fall election
for prime minister. Just as here, we are fed polls that indicate the top man is woefully
behind. “Approval Ratings Way Down!”
Even when they aren’t. Many people do not understand that almost all media are
leftist. FOX? Ruper Murdoch’s sons and daughters-in-law are leftist. You also have to
filter podcasts. Tucker Carlson started out great, then moved from questionable
gushings over Russia and Moscow, and is now a hardcore anti-Semite.
Don’t believe polls. Think about it. Almost all the important ones the last few
decades have been wrong. The last accurate ones were probably in the 80s, when
Reagan was running against some hapless competitor.
Here’s an example of how clueless Israeli media are. In a headline from The
Times of Israel, we read: “New Palestinian poll shows decline in support for Hamas”.
Only a dolt would believe such nonsense. Arab culture is almost wholly anti-Semitic and
supportive of Hamas. They are Hamas.
Why should we then believe that Netanyahu’s political end is soon?
As ghastly as Oct. 7 was, under Netanyahu, Israel has largely been safe. This
stretches back to the 90s. My personal perspective is that if he lives to be 110, Bibi
should lead Israel. He is a true Zionist and an expert politician. In fact, one could argue
that he is the only war hero that successfully transitioned to politics. All the others lose
their minds and courage upon running for office. A comatose Netanyahu is better than a
fully functioning lackey running in the next elections.
Even (especially?) Israeli media hate him. You can always count on Yaakov Katz,
the former editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post, to make negative comments about
Netanyahu. Even during “good times.” He simply doesn’t like the PM.
It’s the same there as it is here. A president like Trump will be opposed by an
almost universal bad press. Just because he has America’s best interests at heart and
is not a globalist. Anyone else (Obama!) receives so-called puff pieces. What’s your
favorite cake? Would you like to have another daughter?
Predictably, one of Netanyahu’s rivals, Yair Lapid, says Israel’s foreign policy is a
“disaster.”
(As opposed to an existential catastrophe in a Lapid government, says I.)
In a tense Likud Party primary this week, “Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party emerged
as the largest party with 24 seats following Monday's contentious Likud primary, with the
opposition bloc leading the coalition 57 seats to 52.” (Per the JPost.) Not a good sign,
but there’s a lot of time before October.
And that’s a major point people forget from election to election. Netanyahu’s
political obituary has been written and published so many times, it’s now “The boy that
cried wolf.” The man is a survivor perhaps with no peer.
An Al Jazeera post on Instagram two days ago noted Likud’s alleged slide, and
an accompanying comment urged Israel to “stop the genocide” in Gaza.
Except there is no genocide.
In my view—this is hard to say—the opportunities to make Israel’s case to the
masses are behind us. Jew-hatred is too common today, globally. It is becoming a huge
problem in the U.S. We are now in the end game, and a “rescue operation” is underway,
not a mass recovery agenda. We are to warn those who have ears to hear, and pray
that we hold fast to the end, as per our Lord’s instructions.
As I’ve written before, I learned a valuable lesson in 1999, when Netanyahu’s
first term was threatened by Ehud Barak (another who lost his way). I was visiting with
an Israeli friend in Washington D.C. one afternoon. I was really nervous about the
upcoming election (which Barak sadly won) and said so. Eli said—I’ll never forget
it—“Jim, the election isn’t the important thing.” I asked him what was important!
“The Messiah is coming,” he replied. I was stunned but realized he was right. I
never worried about another election.
And I never will.