Netanyahu sees lifelong dream coming true as Iranian beast reels
For Benjamin Netanyahu the bombing of Fordow and the destruction of Iran's nuclear programme marks the best part of a life's work – and a promise kept to Israel.
That it was US bombers that finished the job will make not a jot of difference. Iran's theocratic regime has been Bibi's obsession for the best part of four decades and few will see the destruction of its nuclear sites as anyone else's victory but his own.
A week last Friday, he took care to remind people of this when Israel launched its first strikes against Iran.
'If I may, on a personal level, I've been watching this threat for over 40 years,' he told the nation. 'In 1982, I wrote in one of my books – that's three years, only three years, after the establishment of the regime of the ayatollahs – that the biggest threat faced by humanity and by us, our state, will be the terror regime of the ayatollahs.'
On Sunday morning, on the international stage, he was busy praising the American effort ('Congratulations, President Trump. Your bold decision to target Iran's nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history').
But the Israeli prime minister was bigging up the president safe in the knowledge that, at home, it was his name - not Trump's - that was being mentioned second only to God's.
'This morning, the world is a better and safer world,' said Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's messianic finance minister. 'Thank you to the Lord of the Universe. Thank you to Prime Minister Netanyahu … [oh, and] Thank you to President Trump'.
Most Israelis only got the news when air raid sirens sounded at 7.30am and they got to the bomb shelters. In mine in central Tel Aviv, there was no outward celebration but relieved smiles broke across most peoples faces as they lit up their phones.
Over the past week, there has been real anxiety here that Trump would chicken out and leave Israel to hang. The two week timeline set a few days ago by the president was widely seen as opening the door to a climb down.
That mood has shifted dramatically.
'For me the biggest message this sends is that no one f---s with us,' a young South African Israeli told me after the blast doors opened.
Where things go from here is anyone's guess but, make no mistake, Netanyahu, the ultimate political operator, has plans.
His generals have been very careful over the last few days to stress in their morning briefings that the existential threat Iran poses to Israel is, not singular, but three pronged: nuclear, ballistic missiles and Oct 7 style terrorism.
Yet elections loom in Israel (they must be held by Oct 2026 at the latest) and as the polls stood the day before the strike, Netanyahu was still trailing.
He will no doubt aim to exploit the destruction of Iran's nuclear facilities to boost his prospects but - as happened to Winston Churchill after the Second World War - Israel may yet choose a different leader to build the peace, if indeed peace comes.
How this would be taken by Netanyahu is not clear. Churchill turned to writing, painting and bricklaying but Bibi is a very different animal and has corruption charges against him to contend with, not to mention alleged war crimes.
One Israeli commentator recently wrote that he 'he sees himself as a type of white knight fighting against the Iranian monster in order to save humankind'.
His father was a famous Israeli historian known for his revisionism and Netanyahu is said to have been shaped by him.
If he is remembered for slaying the Iranian beast, one suspects he will ultimately retire satisfied, no matter what else he faces.
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