Letters to the EditorNew YorkerDear Editor,David Remnick paints a picture of Bibi Netanyahu as a psychopathic personality hated and mistrusted by prominent Israelis, yet time after time the Israeli public votes for him.
Might this be because the history of Israel didn’t start 75 years ago but 3000 years ago, a history in which the Netanyahu family are seen as an ancient Israeli family that has sacrificed a son in defense of their country?
Might Israel’s support of Netanyahu be in the biblical tradition of Kind David freeing his people from the Philistines and then while king, lusting after a married woman sending her husband to die in battle so he could have her all to himself?
Even Remnick paints Netanyahu with this biblical brush. Israeli leaders were no saints but were tough men and women who defended their country. A good example is Menachem Begin who was considered a terrorist by the British government and by the Israel Labor Party. yet was a courageous defender of Israel. The British hung men they referred to as terrorists who are now considered Jewish freedom fighters. Netanyahu is a Jewish freedom fighter and those who attack him for his moral and personal flaws are influencing the U.S. and other countries to question their support of Israel.
Nothing could please the Palestinians more.
As for Remnick’s description of Netanyahu’s coalition as “zealots”, well the rough men of the Irgun are back, this time fighting against the encirclement of Israel by Iran. As for the struggle between Israel’s secular and religious community, that’s a far bigger issue than Netanyahu getting free Montecristos and cheating on his wife. Sincerely yours, Larry Shapiro
