To prevail in the Middle East, Netanyahu must go

On this date 85 years ago, Hitler broke the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and invaded the Soviet Union. One wonders if the same outcome will follow the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran.  

But there is one slim, indeed microscopic, chance of this working. Whether by blind luck or brilliant and cunning thinking on the part of President Donald Trump, there could be a way of bringing peace to the Middle East and Persian Gulf. That requires dumping Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and replacing him with a moderate successor such as Yitzhak Rabin who made peace with Egypt and Anwar Sadat after the 1973 war. 

Trump has already prepared the political battlefield. He has told Netanyahu that he’s the one calling “all the shots” and boasted as to how he tongue-lashed the prime minister, calling him “crazy.”  

The question of whether this public verbal abuse — which has not been well received by some Israelis — will force Netanyahu’s removal remains to be seen. If not, then as long as he stays, a genuine and lasting peace will never be achieved. At every step, Netanyahu has been out to destroy Iran and prevent any negotiation from being fulfilled.

The start of Netanyahu’s scorched earth Iran policy began in early January. It appears that Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, began inducing protests in Iran to generate the reasons for an attack. In mid-January, Netanyahu flew to Washington to convince Trump........

© The Hill