Analysis and updates

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been thinking about bombing Iran’s nuclear program for a long time. But will it be enough to secure his political future, much less his legacy?

Amid lagging poll numbers, Netanyahu has been privately lamenting “without victory in Gaza, we have nothing to go to elections with.” His controversial efforts to exempt ultra-Orthodox Jews from conscription have only made things worse. An accommodation reached on June 11 kept his coalition intact but was described by military reservists and their families as a capitulation to the draft dodgers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been thinking about bombing Iran’s nuclear program for a long time. But will it be enough to secure his political future, much less his legacy?

Amid lagging poll numbers, Netanyahu has been privately lamenting “without victory in Gaza, we have nothing to go to elections with.” His controversial efforts to exempt ultra-Orthodox Jews from conscription have only made things worse. An accommodation reached on June 11 kept his coalition intact but was described by military reservists and their families as a capitulation to the draft dodgers.

Halting Iran’s nuclear ambitions has, famously, been Netanyahu’s obsession since the 1990s. Despite his reputation for being........

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