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Saturday, April 25, 2015

Time chooses Netanyahu in "Time 100" - and then trashes him

Every year, Time magazine publishes its list of the 100 most influential people.

There were very few negative articles describing those chosen. Vladimir Putin was described this way:

No leader arouses more fascination around the world, because his actions speak a language of defiance that so many of his people want to hear, lifting him to levels of popularity that other leaders can only envy. How long can he remain aloft? Don’t bet against him quite yet.​

  Kim Jong Un was one of the very few whose description was negative.

Benjamin Netanyahu was the other.

Time asked Ehud Barak, his political opponent from Labor, to describe him. After saying how difficult the job is, Barak wrote:
[O]ver time, while thoughtful and an avid reader of history, he developed a mind-set at once pessimistic, passive and anxious. Benjamin Netanyahu seems to avoid any initiative....

[H]e can fail to seize opportunities, and on the Palestinian question he grossly ignores the slippery slope awaiting Israel in the form of a one-state solution.

To leave his mark Netanyahu must swiftly heal wounds opened by his campaign, mend the working relationship with President Obama, fight hard—mainly behind closed doors—for a tougher policy, and even, if needed, an attack against Iran and boldly engage the region’s moderates against terror, radicalism and Iranian hegemony. Daring actions are needed. Not just words.