How Netanyahu’s failed foreign policy strategy put Israel in danger and what we need to do to fix it

Putting aside the details of the deal made by the Trump Administration and the Islamic Republic and their Revolutionary Guards, it is common consensus here in Israel that Israel has lost the war with Iran. Many feel we are now in greater danger than we were before this current conflict started. And while many analyses will focus on tactics Israel used to fight a neighbor many times its size, I would like to focus on what I believe to be the main cause of failure: Israel lost to Iran because it lost America.

I believe it is critical to underscore this point because it highlights how critical foreign policy is to Israel’s security, and why Benjamin Netanyahu’s failure to take that front seriously has been so damaging to our standing. Specifically, Netanyahu is famous for his disdain for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, notorious for setting himself up to be the only spokesperson for Israel in English, and guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt for breaking the bipartisan American consensus on Israel. We are now reaping the poisoned grain he sowed.

It is absolutely the case that Israel was facing formidable adversaries on this international political front: Qatar alone invested hundreds of billions in buying influence across the West while Netanyahu let Israel’s foreign affairs wither. We know Netanyahu knew about these investments. And, of course, Qatar was not the only one: while American politicians are getting mileage from anti-AIPAC pledges, the lobbies for the Oil Industry and........

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