What Makes Bibi Netanyahu Tick?

Global Post/Yidwithlid ^ | 4/2/09 | Yidwithlid

[Shellybenoit]

In order to understand where someone may be heading, sometimes it makes sense to understand where they came from. In the case of the new Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, you can see those roots in everything he does.

Benzion Netanyahu, Bibi's dad is a noted scholar of the history of Jews in Spain. He knows deeply the horrors that tends to happen to Jews when they don't have their own state. Benzion learned the Zionist ropes as an assistant to the Zionist philosopher Zeev Jabotinsky. And in Jabotinsky you can see one of the key reasons why you don't hear Bibi talk openly about a two state solution:

It is incredible what political simpletons Jews are. They shut their eyes to one of the most elementary rules of life, that you must not "meet halfway" those who do not want to meet you.

--Ze'ev Jabotinsky, The Iron Wall November 4, 1923

During the 1940s, the elder Netanyahu was one of the few who had warned about the Holocaust , and after the horrors became apparent, he stood firm in demanding that the Holocaust refugees should be directed to the land of Israel. The senior Netanyahu brought his family to Israel with a strong sense of history and a strong sense that only through a strong Israel will the Jewish people ever totally be safe. Much of that has rubbed off on his middle child, his son Binyamin:

[dajeeps]

I admire Bibi. I really enjoyed the embedded Reagan video, though. So, now I’m distracted, thinking about how much I miss Reagan, and feeling sorry that he seems to have been a one of a kind.

[numberonepal]

They [the Netanyahu's] believe in rule by force and raw self-interest as the only hope for Israel’s survival... Anything that compromises these beliefs, they hold to be dangerously naive.

That right there tells me how the whole Iranian situation is going to go down.

[popdonnelly]

He wants his country to survive. While most in the World and many in the U.S. want to kick it to the curb.

[ChocChipCookie]

I hope what makes Bibi tick is ISRAEL and not some freakin, misguided and completely failed ideas of land for peace, dividing Jerusalem, an independent Palestine, etc.

[dajeeps]

I’m surprised these things haven’t happened sooner. I’m sure they’re very aware of what the situation is more than me, and it wasn’t so hard to figure out from a high level.

The Palastinian thing is really a red herring. They are pawns in the Iranian game of creating so much ruckus in the region it jacks up oil prices. They have neither monetary, nor political interest in peace, and thier neighbors aren’t interested in doing anything about them because they benefit from the trouble making. My guess is there are only two ways to solve it:

1) Make oil irrelevent (of course that hurts us because oil is traded in dollars)
2) Give the Iranians what’s coming to them to show them that they will end up with far more economic benefit by playing nice than having to clean up after being bombarded with MOABs.