Benjamin Netanyahu is in a state of “nervous breakdown” and is leading Israel in the wrong direction, emphasizes Ehud Olmert, the country’s prime minister from 2006-09, in an interview with Politico. “He’s emotionally damaged, that’s for sure. Something terrible happened to him. Bibi has worked his whole life under the false pretense of being Mr. Security. He is, however, Mr. Stupidity,” he emphasized, to add: “Every moment he remains in the position of prime minister is a danger for Israel. I mean it seriously. I am sure that the Americans understand that he is in a bad situation”.
Himself, at the same time, expressed his strong disagreement with the position expressed last Monday by Netanyahu, speaking to the ABC network, regarding the future regime that will prevail in the Gaza Strip. “It is not in Israel’s interest to oversee security in Gaza. We are interested in being able to protect ourselves in a different way compared to what we did before the October 7 attack. But to bring Gaza back under our control? Not this.”
Tolerance has limits
Olmert – who was jailed for bribery and perverting the course of justice after he was ousted as prime minister – warned that the tolerance of Israel’s allies has limits. “There is much we can do, but we cannot do everything we wish.” After criticizing the “complete lack of a plan for the next phase”, he raised the issue of the “two-state” solution, which the current Netanyahu government seems to categorically reject.
“If Israel elaborate a serious proposal for negotiations on a two-state basis, this would have a dramatic impact on the international community. It would give us more leeway and time to achieve the objectives of military operations – it would have an impact on Western public opinion and the media. It would show that Israel is committed to doing what it has not wanted to do for the past 15 years.”
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