The story of Benjamin Netanyahu is not merely the story of a man in power. It is the story of a political structure that allowed one individual to grow beyond the institutions meant to contain him, until he became—psychologically and politically—larger than the state itself. The question in Israel today is no longer “Who governs?” but rather: Who actually has the power to restrain Netanyahu’s arrogance? Three recent signals—from Ehud Barak, Donald Trump, and Ram Ben-Barak—paint a troubling picture.

A country long marketed as a model of “strong institutions” and “independent strategic decision-making” now finds itself exposed, led by a prime minister who behaves as if he holds absolute authority, only to discover that the real limits on his power are drawn not in Tel Aviv, but in Washington.

A country long marketed as a model of “strong institutions” and “independent strategic decision-making” now finds itself exposed, led by a prime minister who behaves as if he holds absolute authority, only to discover that the real limits on his power are drawn not in Tel Aviv, but in Washington.

Ehud Barak, former prime minister and former chief of staff, does not speak as a partisan critic. He speaks from the vantage point of Israel’s “security memory”—the accumulated experience of a system that once prided itself on strategic discipline. When Barak says Netanyahu’s government has dragged Israel into “the most dangerous political and security situation since its founding,” he is not offering rhetorical flourish. He is issuing a strategic verdict. What makes his warning more alarming is not the description of the moment, but his dismantling of Netanyahu’s narrative: the “crushing defeat of Hezbollah,” the claim of “pushing the group back decades,” the destruction of villages as a sign of strategic success. Barak calls all of this “pure illusion,” “deception,” and goes further: destroying villages, he says, strengthens Hezbollah rather than weakens it. This is not a disagreement over tactics. It is a direct accusation that Netanyahu is manufacturing strategic ruin and selling it to Israelis as victory.

In a state built on the doctrine of security, such an accusation amounts to a declaration of bankruptcy. A government that does not understand that war is a means to a political settlement—not a substitute for it—is a government steadily losing its ability to manage risk. Yet the depth of the crisis is revealed not only by Barak’s critique, but by what came from outside: from the........

© Middle East Monitor