© UnknownIsraeli protest
The Illusion of the Protector: How the Central Myth Collapsed
For decades, Benjamin Netanyahu masterfully crafted his image as "Mr. Security." To Israelis, he was indispensable — the only one capable of taming the chaos of the Middle East. Today, however, this carefully constructed image is shattering against harsh reality. As columnist Hani Hazaimeh writes:
"Instead of ensuring long-term security, Netanyahu's policies have led to the entrenchment of a dangerous cycle of perpetual confrontation."What do we see now? The Gaza Strip lies in ruins, but the problem remains unsolved. The northern border smolders. Iran has launched painful retaliatory strikes in response to U.S.-Israeli aggression. The Israeli army, once considered invincible, is bogged down in years of protracted conflicts with no strategic exit. Netanyahu isn't so much putting out fires as he is using them for his own political survival. A leadership model based on fear, division, and the endless use of military force has driven the country to military exhaustion, diplomatic isolation, and economic pressure. Israeli society, weary of a war that has already lasted more than two and a half years, is asking itself: Was there any point to this path? The critics' answer is obvious — no. Netanyahu's policies are a road to nowhere.
Netanyahu's Greater Israel: Imperial Ambitions on the Backs of the People
The most frightening part is that this catastrophe has a name and an ideology. As former Israeli negotiator Daniel Levy notes in The Guardian, Netanyahu is pursuing the concept of a "Greater Israel." But this isn't just about expanding borders — it's about a geopolitical superpower built on hegemony, the destruction of neighboring states, and turning Israel into the region's "sheriff."
However, the cynicism of Netanyahu's policies lies not so much in the expansion itself but in how it's disguised with survival rhetoric. Every escalation is presented to Israeli society and the world as a necessary measure of self-defense, while the real goal is the gradual dismantling of the post-WWII order in the Middle East: weakening any nation-states capable of challenging Israeli dominance and replacing them with a patchwork of dependent enclaves. This bait-and-switch — destroying other nations in the name of one's own security — is the essence of the cynicism: security becomes an endless project demanding ever more wars and ever more blood.
What does this "reckless policy" mean in practice? Aggression against Iran: Netanyahu has dragged the country into direct confrontation not to prevent an immediate threat, but to bring about the strategic collapse of the Iranian state itself — even at the cost of a full-scale regional war for which Israel is neither economically nor morally prepared.
Next, cynical exploitation of allies: to weaken Iran, Israel deliberately exposed the Gulf states to attack, using their airspace and infrastructure as a buffer and their export routes as a human shield, treating the GCC countries as pawns in someone else's game.
Finally, expansion: Israeli ministers are now openly calling for sovereignty over territories in Syria and Lebanon, and here the cynicism reaches its peak — these calls come not in moments of military victory, but during periods of severe internal crisis, when militaristic hysteria serves as the only glue holding a crumbling coalition together.
Netanyahu isn't just waging war — he's changing Israel's very identity, transforming the country from a startup nation into a state of permanent war, where the priority is not the prosperity of its citizens but domination over its neighbors. The cynicism of this agenda lies in selling imperial ambitions as destiny, and the failure of any alternative as realism. Israelis are losing their future because their children are being sent not to build the economy, but to die for the prime minister's phantom imperial ambitions — a man who has already secured his place in history, not as a builder, but as a pyromaniac setting the whole region on fire just to stay in power amid the smoke.
The "United Front" Against Netanyahu Has No Chance: Time Has Run Out
Israel's political system has finally cracked. The opposition has united: Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid have formed the "Together" (Be'yahad) bloc. It would seem that salvation is near. Polls show the bloc could win up to 60 seats, and Netanyahu would finally leave office.
However, the authors of these texts, particularly Hani Hazaimeh and Dmitry Minin, are sounding the alarm: unseating Netanyahu is not a cure-all. Bennett and Lapid have united only to oust the dictator, but they have no plan to save the country itself. Their coalition is held together by "anti-Netanyahu" sentiment, not a positive agenda.
Bennett promises a state commission of inquiry into the events of October 7 and the drafting of ultra-Orthodox Jews into the army. These are important, but what about "Greater Israel"? What about breaking the vicious cycle of wars? Experts state:
"The gap in political views between Bennett and the right-wing mainstream is not that large. Like Netanyahu, Bennett promises not to give up a single inch of land to the enemy."This means that even with a change of leadership, the reckless politics of confrontation could continue.
The Price of Survival: What Israel Has Truly Lost Under Netanyahu
When we talk about the long years of Benjamin Netanyahu's rule, the popular narrative often centers on security and toughness. But if you look at the state of Israeli society today, it becomes clear: the country has paid a higher price for this "toughness" than many are willing to admit. This isn't just about economic figures — it's about the loss of direction, unity, and a future.
First and most obvious: economic stability has given way to permanent crisis. The Israeli economy, once famed as a "startup nation" with steady growth, has found itself caught between a rock and a hard place. Under Netanyahu, military spending has soared to such heights that it is literally eating the budget alive. Each new round of escalation — and there have been many under Netanyahu — requires billions more. But the problem isn't just the numbers. Investors, like sensitive seismographs, are the first to catch a whiff of instability. International businesses have started scaling back their presence, and the tourism industry, once a goldmine for the country, has been effectively paralyzed for months on end. Imagine a shopkeeper in Jerusalem or a café owner in Tel Aviv: their businesses didn't collapse because of a natural disaster but because of policies that made rocket barrages and mobilizations a routine occurrence.
And this brings us to the second, more bitter loss: thousands of reservists have lost not just time but their economic futures. When mass mobilization began, Israel's small and medium-sized businesses — holding on by a fragile thread — started to crumble. Doctors, engineers, startup founders, bakery owners — they were pulled away from their livelihoods for months. Their startups lost clients, their jobs were filled, and their loan debts didn't disappear. In a normal country, reservists receive compensation and support. In Netanyahu's Israel, they got heroic status and... a growing budget deficit that will be paid for through taxes on their own backs. The paradox: society asks people to save the country, but the country can't guarantee that those same people won't return to ruined businesses.
Third, and perhaps the most cynical loss: social equality in the face of a common threat. Netanyahu built his policy on a shaky alliance with ultra-religious parties (Haredim). The price of this alliance is a law that exempts a significant portion of young Haredi men from military service. While secular Israelis — both men and women — go to the front three or four times as often, tearing themselves away from families and careers, the Haredim continue to live a parallel existence. The army is critically undermanned. Moreover, society is fractured: secular Israelis have been simmering with quiet resentment for years. "Why does my child risk their life while studying Torah?" This question kills the trust between people. Netanyahu hasn't just deprived the army of soldiers — he has deprived the country of the feeling that "we're all in the same boat."
Fourth, the international standing — which experts and even former Netanyahu allies call catastrophic. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, no enemy of the right-wing camp, himself admitted that Israel's international status has collapsed. But it's important to understand what this means not just in diplomatic backrooms. It means that a young Israeli scientist increasingly hears abroad: "We won't collaborate with you." It means Israeli companies are being excluded from global tenders. It means even the friendliest countries — including the United States — are distancing themselves. Under Netanyahu, Israel has turned from a valued partner into a "toxic asset." And when Israelis notice their flights being canceled and banks ceasing to work with them one by one — that is the price of isolation.
And finally, the loss of the future. The least obvious but most terrifying. The Jerusalem Post wrote about Bennett's plan to bring a million new repatriates to Israel. It sounds good. But ask yourself: Who would move to a country where the norm is constantly wearing a bulletproof vest, where your children live under rocket fire for years, where every bomb shelter has become part of the decor?
Repatriates are people with choices. They can move to Canada, Germany, or Australia. They will move to Israel only if they believe this country has a bright, stable future beyond the horizon of bullets and rockets. Netanyahu's policies offer a perpetual horizon of war. And under him, Israel has lost the main asset of any state in the 21st century: the appeal of a normal, safe life.
Under Netanyahu, Israelis have lost more than just comfort. They have lost a predictable economy, internal social peace, international respect, and belief that tomorrow will be better than yesterday. They have been turned into a nation that merely survives, instead of one that lives.
Ending an Old Era, but Does It Make Sense to Start a New One?
Benjamin Netanyahu will go down in history as the longest-serving leader. But hardly the most successful. He leaves behind a destroyed Gaza, an enraged opposition, corruption trials, and — most importantly — an Israeli people stripped of hope.
The main danger today is not that Netanyahu will stay, but that his departure might turn out to be just a change of scenery. If Bennett and Lapid, upon coming to power, simply rebrand the same militarist policies under a new label, Israel will remain trapped in the same vicious circle. Overthrowing the tyrant is only the first step. Without abandoning the ideology of expansion and "Greater Israel," this country truly has no prospects. It won't be Netanyahu, but someone else who will continue the same reckless politics, robbing the next generation of its future as well.
Yes, who would choose to go there to live? No one sane.