I was moved at the sight of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladmir Putin standing together on the dais at the Russian military parade to mark the Red Army's victory over Nazi Germany in WWII; Putin representing the victorious army and Netanyahu the resilience of the Holocaust survivors who played a significant role in the State of Israel's establishment. Netanyahu was received with dignity and splendor in Moscow, even though, according to foreign reports, the Israeli Air Force had struck Iranian targets inside Syria mere hours earlier.
U.S. President Donald Trump, in a stunning speech the likes of which no other American president has delivered in years, announced on Tuesday that the U.S. would withdraw from the zany Iran nuclear deal. It was an unequivocal message to the entire world that the United States would not allow oppressive terrorist states to acquire weapons of mass destruction. His speech was in complete agreement with Netanyahu's long-standing efforts against a community that mocked him at home and abroad. Dwarfed by Netanyahu's shadow, the opposition in Israel was left with its jaw on the floor. What a pity.
Even with all the difficulty it would entail, the Left could also give Netanyahu credit for what he has accomplished. Never before has the head of an Israeli government been recognized as a statesman with international influence. Israel, with its small territory and population, has become a leading world power in so many diverse fields.
In his eulogy of Netanyahu's grandfather Rabbi Natan Milkovsky, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook wrote, "He was an orator … magic in his mouth and in his lips … [In] that same heart full of mighty Judaism … [there was ] love of the Land of Israel."
Kook could never have imagined that one day, Milkovsky's grandson would lead the State of Israel and guarantee it a place under the sun, out of a belief in a national Jewish destiny and the vision of the prophets.
As Revisionist Zionist leader Ze'ev Jabotinsky's wrote in his poem "The Beitar Song":
"Even in poverty a Jew is a prince / Whether slave or tramp / You have been created the son of kings"
It is very difficult to lead the Jews when every single one of them is deemed the son of a king. Moses was the first leader to internalize the price of leadership, and in modern times, Zionist visionary Theodor Herzl, Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and former Prime Minister Menachem Begin all swallowed the bitter pill. Netanyahu, too, has met a similar fate. Criticized from morning to night, he and his family are incessantly and viciously attacked by short-sighted talking heads. But time and again, he succeeds in proving their inferiority, superficiality and professional failures. The looks on their faces in recent days are enough to justify stationing an ambulance or two over at the TV studios, just in case. Now imagine what will happen when we see a group picture of Netanyahu, U.S. President Donald Trump, Saudi King Salman and representatives from the United Arab Emirates.
Despite the Bibiphobia so pervasive in the media and on the Left, the hostility has not had an effect on a vast majority of Israel's citizens. They know how to cherish and appreciate the actions and achievements of Israel's government under Netanyahu.
