Sometime in the summer of 2023, I purchased Benjamin Netanyahu’s autobiography Bibi; My Story. The six hundred and fifty pages are a quick read, narrating the account of a man who, no matter what opinion one holds of him, devoted his adult life to the service of his country, first in uniform and later in a suit and tie.

When the news of the October 7th massacre spread, my first thought was that Netanyahu, who had been called Mr. Security, completely failed his nation. And my first urge was to remove his book from my bookcase and donate it to the Goodwill store. But I stopped myself, and the book remained on the shelf.

A relatively successful Gaza maneuver followed. Then, a year later, the beeper operation, the killing of Yahya Sinwar, and the death of Hassan Nasrallah. I was glad I held on to Bibi’s book. But things took a different turn before the second inauguration of President Trump. In early January 2025, Steve Witkoff, a real estate developer and close friend of the President, who appointed him the Special Envoy to the Middle East, arrived in Israel. It was on Shabbat, and he insisted on speaking with Netanyahu. Netanyahu’s aides conveyed to Witkoff that the Prime Minister would meet with him after the Shabbat conclusion, but Witkoff demanded to meet right away, and Netanyahu obliged. During the conference, Witkoff relayed to Netanyahu that the President elect wanted an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Netanyahu agreed, although a ceasefire hadn’t been part of his plan prior to the meeting, and a few days later a truce was declared. The difficulty of Netanyahu’s position notwithstanding, I thought it was dismaying how quickly he acquiesced. Wasn’t one of his objectives a complete defeat of Hamas? Isn’t a lull in the fighting going to make this goal more difficult? Hadn’t he previously emphasized how important it was for Israeli prime ministers to be able to say No to American presidents?

In June 2025, the Israeli air campaign against Iran started, and Bibi was king again. The brief war was so successful that Trump decided to join in at its conclusion. But when Iran kept firing missiles after a ceasefire was declared, and a massive Israeli Air force fleet was dispatched to retaliate, Trump called Netanyahu and ordered him to halt the campaign in mid-flight. And Netanyahu? Well…he complied. The planes had to turn back. And, while acknowledging that I was a diaspora outsider, I still had to ask; wasn’t this humiliation? Doesn’t Israel have any freedom of action? And, importantly – would another Prime Minister refuse Trump’s command? Again, I contemplated getting rid of Bibi.

               The multifront war went on. Two months ago, the US and Israel began aerial strikes against the Iranian regime. Hezbollah, Iran’s prolonged arm in Lebanon whose only raison d’etre is the destruction of Israel and who has been terrorizing the residents of Israel’s North for decades, joined the fight. Israel responded with the goal of once and for all eliminating the Hezbollah threat, and the campaign against the terror group was progressing very successfully. Then, after over a month of war with Iran, Trump declared a ceasefire. Israel’s maneuver against Hezbollah was initially not part of this truce. But soon enough, the President changed his mind, phoned Netanyahu and demanded that Israel stop its offensive against the terrorist organization. Netanyahu, unsurprisingly, submitted immediately. “Trump made a request,” he explained laconically. The implication was clear. When Trump makes a request, I accommodate.  An official ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, declared by Trump, quickly followed.

The political circles in Israel, including members of Netanyahu’s own coalition, reacted to the Prime Minister’s about face with shock. But the most visceral reaction came from the residents of Northern Israel, long tortured by Hezbollah. They felt betrayed and abandoned. They accused Netanyahu of yielding excessively to Trump’s demands. The head of one of the Northern municipalities raised American flags alongside Israeli flags. This was not an act of alliance with the USA. Rather, as the local leader explained, it was meant as a symbolic expression of “the loss of Israeli independence as a sovereign and democratic state.”

Israel and its Prime Minister are currently in a precarious position. Their only ally on the planet with some gravitas is the United States. It goes without saying that American wishes and demands have to be taken into consideration by Israel. But the question is, to what extent?  After the worst massacre of Jews after the Holocaust, shouldn’t there be more dogged determination to pacify Israel’s deadly enemies, even if it takes locking horns with the mercurial, irascible personality of Donald Trump?

Yes, I still own Netanyahu’s autobiography. I’ll keep it at least until the November elections. Perhaps he has a master plan in his mind for effectively incapacitating Israel’s enemies lurking just outside its borders. But I won’t hold my breath.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)