Fifteen years ago, Benjamin Netanyahu’s father Benzion was asked to give an opinion about his son, the prime minister of Israel. He replied: “He is not an idiot.”
Amit Segal, the journalist who asked that question, prides himself as an admirer of Netanyahu. He asked his question not to cast doubt on the PM, but to understand a statement Netanyahu had made about the two-state solution at Bar-Ilan University in 2009.
Netanyahu had expressed his support for the two-state solution, to which his father clarified that he does not. “He imposed conditions that the Arabs would not accept,” he explained. “This is the land of the Jews. There’s no room for Arabs here.” The conditions were the Palestinians’ recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and that the Palestinian state be stripped of weapons. He also demanded that the issue of Palestinian refugees be resolved outside Israel’s borders.
Netanyahu’s remarks at Bar-Ilan were made just days after Barack Obama became president of the United States and demanded an end to Israeli settlements and expressed his support to the two-state solution. “Lasting peace requires more than a long ceasefire, and that's why I will sustain an active commitment to seek two states living side by side in peace and security,” Obama said at the time.
Obama became president in January 2009, Netanyahu became prime minister in March and the US president welcomed the PM at the White House in May that year. Visiting Cairo in June, Obama pledged to open a new page of relations with the Arab and Muslim worlds. Ten days later, Netanyahu made his comments at Bar-Ilan, effectively undermining Obama’s statements.
Six years earlier, Netanyahu was a finance minister in Ariel Sharon’s government. His father Benzion was asked whether he would fit to become prime minister, to which he replied: “No, he’s better at being a foreign minister.” In his understanding, the position of foreign minister fits someone who is good at talking and delivering speeches, who enjoys cocktail parties and does not like to work. Who knows a person better than their father?
From selling furniture to politics
The problem today is that this son is leading a country at the heart of developments in the Middle East and world. People dealing with this son are heads of state, kings, commanders of armies and intelligence directors. He is controlling the lives of people, who have all had bitter experiences with Netanyahu.
You’ll find few people who have figured out Netanyahu. He always has the ability to surprise and often, to shock. There is one thing he knows how to do very well and that is to put his personal interests above all else. Nothing will stop him from getting what he wants. The most important weapon in his arsenal is his marketing skills.
Netanyahu started off as a furniture salesman in the United States. He was adept at selling worthless furniture by marketing them as something valuable. If the store owner wanted to get rid of some old stock, he tasked Netanyahu with the job. Netanyahu would market them as though they were the store’s best merchandise. He was a proficient liar, his face never betraying the truth. He took and never paid anything in return. And he succeeded because he was a good talker.
Before the owner could expose him, he quit to pursue a life in politics. He was named Israel’s representative at the United Nations, then deputy foreign minister, and later foreign minister. He assumed the post of finance minister before becoming prime minister, a post he has held for a record time in Israel.
Netanyahu brought all of his marketing skills and tricks to his political life. The best example of this is how he created the Philadelphi Corridor problem to obstruct any prisoner swap. Thirty-one years earlier, he created another problem which he used to become prime minister for the first time.
In 1993, when he was vying for the post against three rivals, Netanyahu requested airtime on Israel’s biggest state television at the time to divulge a major scandal. He admitted on television that he had committed adultery and that one of the candidates for the position of prime minister was blackmailing him about it. By choosing to admit to the extramarital affair and implicate a candidate in the process, Netanyahu successfully manipulated the public into supporting, rather than condemning, him. In the end, he won the race with 52 percent of the vote.
Exploiting weakness
Marketing is therefore in Netanyahu’s DNA. He sets a target for himself and sets out to obtain it through means of his own choosing or invention. He is good at reading people, whom he views as clients, and sniffs out their weaknesses, which he will exploit to achieve his goals.
It may be a dirty approach, it may be full of lies and deceit, it may cost his country, people and party, but it is worth it for Netanyahu if in the end someone still remains to cheer him on. A behavioral expert noted that one of Netanyahu’s best assets was his ability to deliver short and simple messages that resonate with the people. It’s not important whether these messages are true or not, but it’s important that they resonate and leave an impact. He also uses the language of “us” and “them”, always making sure to have a rival.
Ultimately, it has become evident that Netanyahu cares about himself more than anything else. He has become an expert in eliminating anything standing in his way. He built for himself a limited paradoxical base of right-wing supporters. The majority of them are from the poor class, even though his policies are often very capitalist.
Throughout his career, he has managed to destroy parties that competed against him. In 2009, he faced off against Ehud Barak. Barak had commanded Netanyahu in the army. In 1999, Barak defeated him in the elections, winning the position of prime minister. Later, Netanyahu, as PM, would persuade Barak to join his government as defense minister. Barak did and eventually Netanyahu saw to the destruction of the Labor party and Barak quit politics. He did the same thing to Yair Lapid, Benny Gantz and Moshe Kahlon.
Love of money and gifts
Over his long career, Netanyahu’s weakness has been exposed to be his love of money and receiving gifts. He boasts a fortune of 23 million dollars and earns a monthly salary of around 20,000 dollars. He amassed his fortune from high wages and delivering seminars. He is in high demand to deliver them across the globe, especially the US.
More important than his income, which he collects through his hard work, are his expenses. Netanyahu is known to be frugal in his expenses and that all of them are actually covered by the state, as opposed to his predecessors, who paid out of their own pocket. Netanyahu has no friends, but he is keen on forging good relations with major capitalists. He judges how close his relations are with them according to the value of the gifts they give him. He is especially fond of lavish gifts. If an acquaintance were to gift his wife a gold necklace, he would unashamedly ask about the matching rings and earrings.
Such habits ultimately led to charges that he received bribes and that he exploited his position to solicit favors. Netanyahu is aware that if convicted, the corruption charges could land him in jail. It is political life and death for him. If he leaves his post, then it will be easy to convict and imprison him. If he remains in power, then his trial will continue at a very slow pace as it is today. The trial opened four years ago and it is still in the witness testimony phase.
If he remains on as prime minister, he will also be able to prevent the establishment of an official investigation commission to probe the October 7 attack by Hamas. He will be able to use his position to press for changing judges.
Coalition
Netanyahu has also managed to cobble together a strong government coalition of 64 lawmakers out of 120. It is comprised of members of his Likud party, as well as religious and settler groups. They all have an interest in sticking together. The religious groups are amassing massive funds for their schools and institutions, while the settlers are winning settlement expansions and aborting the two-state solution and erasing the Palestinian cause. The Likud, meanwhile, has managed to eliminate any internal opposition.
This coalition and around 20 percent of Israeli voters form Netanyahu’s still unshakable popular base. He primarily relies on this base and prioritizes it above all else – even the hostages in Gaza. The relatives of the hostages are in disbelief that their loved ones’ lives are being wasted because of Netanyahu’s political and popular interests.
The base is more important than the soldiers being killed for nothing in Gaza. It is more important than the leaders of security agencies and the military who believe that Netanyahu’s policy is causing Israel strategic security harm. It is more important than the American administration that still stands by the PM’s side despite the deep differences between them and even as he drags it towards major crises, and is still trying to lure it into regional war. Even with all of this support, Netanyahu is unhappy with Washington - which wants an end to the Gaza war – going so far as to voice his backing for Donald Trump as president just to spite the administration.
