In an interview about Israel’s economy with business newspaper “The Marker” in 2012, Benjamin Netanyahu boasted, in what has since become a kind of idiomatic phrase, that “if you leave out the Arabs and the ultra-Orthodox, [Israel is] in great shape.” Today, the prime minister seems to be refining that tagline even further: if you leave out all the people entirely, we’re in golden shape.
It’s not just Netanyahu who believes this. Since the October 7 attack and the ensuing war of annihilation waged on Gaza, the Israeli right has been euphoric. The Iranian missile attack two weeks ago further succeeded in diverting our gaze from Gaza, restraining international criticism of Israel’s crimes, and even earning the state renewed sympathy…..more
