Before the war in Gaza began almost two years ago, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, was not known as a risk taker. His rhetoric was bold, his deeds less so. Now, however, by sending the Israeli military into Gaza City, he appears to have dispensed with constraints.
The operation, which he says is necessary to defeat Hamas but is certain to increase Israel's isolation as international anger mounts, has already killed many Palestinians and sent hundreds of thousands into flight southward. It risks the lives of the estimated 20 living Israeli hostages. It renders any ceasefire unimaginable for the moment. It has been questioned even by the military's chief of staff.
To all this, Netanyahu's response seems to be: Bring it on.
This week, he suggested that Israel should become a "super Sparta", apparently meaning that the ancient Greek city-state that rose through discipline to become a great military power should inspire the country. Speaking at an economic conference hosted by the finance ministry, he said Israel might have to confront "isolation" through "autarky", or economic self-sufficiency.
"He's lost it," Itamar Rabinovich, a former Israeli ambassador to the US, said. "There are no more red lines."
Vilified by the hostages' anguished families, confronted by large street protests, fiercely criticised by alienated European allies for the bombardment of Gaza that has taken tens of thousands of Palestinian lives, Netanyahu only becomes more defiant.
This month he vowed that "there will be no Palestinian state". Even if preventing one has the been the primary focus of his political life, he has become much more explicit of late. The remark amounted to a rebuke to states including France, Britain, Canada and Australia that have said they will recognise a state of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly beginning next week.
It would be foolhardy, however, to equate Netanyahu's increasingly headstrong braggadocio with imminent downfall.
He has not amassed a total of almost 18 years as Prime Minister and become the nation's longest-serving leader without proving himself a shrewd, adaptable and ruthless leader. "Only Bibi!" goes the chant of his hard-core supporters, using his nickname.
To them he is the irreplaceable "King", the one man with the mettle to face down Israel's enemies on seven fronts. His decapitation of Hezbollah in Lebanon and undermining of Iran's nuclear ambitions through a brief war have led to talk in the region of an imperial Israel.
Perhaps his weakest enemy has proved his toughest. He appears to believe that he can force Hamas to surrender or disappear through military might alone, but has been obliged to redefine his approach again and again.
To his opponents, who chant "Anything but Bibi", Netanyahu is simply the face of the desecration of Israeli democracy.
At this tense juncture in Israel's history, Netanyahu has one clear advantage: the largely uncritical support of President Donald Trump. A world drifting under Trump's impulsion in an authoritarian direction had helped birth a Bibi unbound. He is emboldened because, as never before, he is confident that, no matter what, this America will have his back.
"Trump is the only person on earth who can dictate to Bibi what he should do," Ehud Olmert, a former Prime Minister and strong critic of Netanyahu, told me. "He has the power to save thousands of lives."
It is unclear, however, whether Trump would ever confront Netanyahu in this way.
New York Times News Service
