The Unraveling of a Legacy: Netanyahu's Triple Failure in Israel's Darkest Hour
Netanyahu’s legacy is unraveling. October 7 exposed his catastrophic failures—unable to protect Israelis, recover hostages, or defeat Hamas. How does a leader survive such a profound breach of trust?
October 7, 2023 is a day that redefined Israel's security paradigm and throw a harsh spotlight on the leadership of its longest-serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Before the dust has even settled, before the nation has had a chance to grapple with the aftermath, a harsh reality has become clear: Netanyahu's administration has failed on three critical fronts - protecting its citizens, recovering the hostages, and defeating Hamas.
This failure is not a matter of partisan politics or ideological disagreement; it is a cold, hard fact etched in blood, tears, and shattered trust.
The Guardian's Fall: A Nation Left Vulnerable
The primary duty of any government is to protect its citizens. It's a contract, an unspoken promise that forms the bedrock of the social covenant between the governed and those who govern. On October 7, that promise was shattered in the most brutal fucking way imaginable.
In a series of coordinated attacks that caught Israel's vaunted security apparatus completely off guard, Hamas militants breached the Gaza border, infiltrating Israeli towns and kibbutzim. The result was catastrophic: 1,200 Israelis killed, 240 taken hostage. It was the deadliest day in Israel's history since the Yom Kippur War of 1973.
The scale of the failure is hard to overstate. Israel, a country that has long prided itself on its military prowess and intelligence capabilities, was caught with its proverbial pants down. The Iron Dome, Israel's much-touted missile defense system, was overwhelmed. The border fence, supposedly impenetrable, was breached with ease. And the response? Painfully slow and disorganized.
As Israelis reeled from the shock and horror, a question began to form on everyone's lips: How could this happen? How could a country that spends billions on defense, that prides itself on being always vigilant, be so utterly unprepared?
For years, Netanyahu had pursued a strategy of containment rather than confrontation. He saw Hamas not as an existential threat to be eliminated, but as a useful counterweight to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. It was a policy of division and control, aimed at keeping the Palestinians divided and weak.
As Mairav Zonszein of the International Crisis Group put it, "There's been a lot of criticism of Netanyahu in Israel for instating a policy for many years of strengthening Hamas and keeping Gaza on the brink while weakening the Palestinian Authority." This policy, while perhaps politically expedient in the short term, left Israel dangerously exposed.
The irony is that Netanyahu himself, before returning to power, had warned of exactly this kind of failure. In a moment of prescient criticism that now reads like a damning self-indictment, he once declared, "The government is in charge of the military, and it failed miserably."
The Hostage Crisis: A Nation's Heart in Captivity
If the October 7 attack was a devastating blow to Israel's sense of security, what followed was a protracted nightmare; the taking of hostages - men, women, children and the elderly.
As of this writing, 97 hostages remain missing, with 33-35 believed to be deceased. Each day that passes is an eternity for their families, a cruel limbo of hope and despair. The hostage crisis has become a litmus test for Netanyahu's leadership.
The public outrage has been palpable. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets in protest, demanding action, demanding results. These are not political opponents; these are everyday Israelis, many of whom had previously supported Netanyahu, now united in their anger and frustration.
Shira Albag, mother of hostage Liri, captured the sentiment of many when she said, "Only if we return all of our hostages home will we be able to feel a sense of victory."
The prime minister's response to this crisis has been a study in political maneuvering rather than decisive action. His rare apology - "I am sorry, deeply, that something like this happened" - rang hollow for many Israelis who expected not words, but results. The negotiations for hostage releases have been fraught with setbacks and false starts, each failure chipping away at Netanyahu's credibility.
Most damning has been the perception that Netanyahu's political survival has taken precedence over the lives of the hostages. Reports of him daring hostage negotiators to quit, accusing them of false leaks, have only fueled this perception. It's a stark contrast to the image of a leader willing to do whatever it takes to bring his people home.
The Elusive Victory: Hamas Unbowed
The third pillar of Netanyahu's failure lies in the stated objective of the war: to defeat Hamas decisively. "Our objective is to completely destroy Hamas' military and governing capabilities," Netanyahu declared in the early days of the conflict. Yet, months into the war, with over 40,000 Palestinians killed according to Gaza health officials, that objective remains unfulfilled.
The human cost of this war has been staggering. The images of destruction in Gaza, the reports of civilian casualties, have shocked the world and strained Israel's relationships with even its closest allies. And for all the devastation, Hamas remains a functioning entity, capable of launching rockets and coordinating attacks.
This failure to achieve a clear military victory is rooted in a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the threat. As Ehud Barak, a former Israeli Prime Minister, noted, "[Netanyahu] saw Hamas as an asset and the [West Bank–based] Palestinian Authority as a liability." This strategic miscalculation allowed Hamas to grow stronger over the years, entrenching itself in Gaza in ways that have made it extraordinarily difficult to root out.
The war has exposed the limitations of military power in achieving political objectives. While Israel's military might is undeniable, the complexities of urban warfare, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and the international pressure for a ceasefire have all combined to frustrate Netanyahu's stated goals.
The longer the conflict drags on, the more it plays into Hamas's narrative of resistance. Each day that Hamas survives is a propaganda victory, a testament to its resilience in the face of overwhelming odds. It's a dynamic that Netanyahu seems to have underestimated, trapped now in a war of attrition with no clear end in sight.
The Court of Public Opinion: A Verdict Rendered
Recent polls paint a damning picture. A staggering 75.8% of Israelis rated Netanyahu's performance as "not so good" or "poor.” The calls for his resignation have grown louder with each passing day.
This public disillusionment cuts across traditional political divides, uniting left and right, secular and religious, in a shared sense of betrayal. The man who once styled himself as "Mr. Security," who built his political brand on the promise of keeping Israelis safe, now stands exposed as having presided over the greatest security disaster in the country's history.
The Weight of History: A Legacy in Tatters
Taking the full scope of Netanyahu's missteps - the catastrophic security breach of October 7, the ongoing hostage crisis, and the inconclusive war against Hamas - what emerges is a picture of a leader who has fundamentally failed to meet the moment.
These are not policy disagreements or political mistakes. They represent a breach of trust so profound that it's hard to see how it can ever be fully repaired.
The tragedy is compounded by the fact that Netanyahu is not some political novice thrust unexpectedly into power. He is Israel's longest-serving prime minister, a man who has spent decades cultivating an image of strength and competence. That this catastrophe should come on his watch adds a layer of bitter irony to an already painful national trauma.
Stating that Netanyahu's administration has utterly failed to protect Israel's citizens, utterly failed to recover the hostages, and utterly failed to defeat Hamas is not a controversial claim. It is simply an acknowledgment of reality.
One thing is clear: the Netanyahu era, whatever its earlier successes might have been, will forever be remembered for this clusterfuck of all fuckups.
