So what went wrong? How about crashing Israeli military transport helicopters and costly ambushes in Lebanon. Throw in a rapidly deteriorating "peace" process and violence on the streets of Palestine and Israel. And of course the garden variety influence-peddling. Let's not even discuss the faltering Israeli economy. The King of Bad Luck and Poor Judgment seems to turn to rust almost anything he touches. If Bibi is not superstitious yet, he ought to be. Someone's got hold of a Bibi Voodoo doll and is not letting up the poking.
And just when you thought the law of averages is about to come to Netanyahu's rescue and level off his streak of bad luck, another galactic blunder rocks an already shattered image of a strong and efficient Israeli killing machine: the Mossad.
Consider the very lucky Meshal and the botched up Israeli assassination attempt on this moderate Jordanian Hamas figure. The timing, target, and quality of this "operation" is guaranteed to give Dr. W. Edwards Deming a heart attack.
Picture the following, almost comical, sequence of events: two unarmed Palestinians are assailed by Mossad hit men posing as Canadians with counterfeit Canadian passports and on friendly Jordanian soil. The final score: Meshal lives, Mossad hit men caught by a lone and unarmed Hamas bodyguard, Israel embarrassed, Mossad humiliated, Canada angered, world condemnation ensued, King Hussein suspected of collaboration with Israel, and best of all, Ahmad Yassin is set free with other Palestinian and Jordanian political activists jailed in Israeli prisons. Good show Bibi.
What does the release of Yassin mean to Hamas? This is simply Netanyahu's mother of all blinks. Fearing a wave of Hamas retaliation attacks similar to the ones following the Mossad assassination of Yehya Ayash "The Engineer" which effectively brought down Peres's government, Netanyahu made it clear that he wishes to avoid such a scenario. Yassin's release and the delivery of the Israeli antidote that saved Meshal's life was his "Sorry I hurt your feelings so don't hurt mine" apology to Hamas. If Hamas stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange, they would have doubled or quadrupled after the botched Mossad operation and the Israeli payoff to Hamas. If this is Bibi's way of fighting Hamas, many Palestinians sure hope this fight continues unabated and at the same pace.
While it has been rumored that Arafat never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity, Netanyahu never missed an opportunity to botch things up. So Move over Arafat and Dan Quayle here comes Bibi to make you look good. Even the respected Economist has bestowed upon him the hard-earned title of Serial Fumbler. For not long after the attempt on Meshal's life, news have surfaced of Hamas's interest in discussing a truce with the Israeli government. But now, Hamas must seriously question Bibi's ability to pursue an honorable and non-violent political solution. Worse yet, since the failed assassination, reports have surfaced in the press alleging King Hussein have closed an eye on Mossad's presence in Amman as long as they did his bidding.
It takes a human to err, but it takes a Netanyahu to foul things up. Yet what's in store could be more worrisome too. A wounded Netanyahu could prove to be more irrational and dangerous. When Former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres was faulted for his dovish politics, he delivered the Quana massacre including the bodies of more than a hundred Lebanese and Palestinian men, women , and children to the Israeli public to cement his get-tough image with the voters. But when a "hawkish" Bibi wishes to send a get-tough message, one can only fear another bloody fumble is in the making.
But who should also worry about Bibi's performance? How about MIT. If proof is in the pudding, being an alumnus of MIT, Bibi's class-act sure brings no fame to this fine academic institution. But one could argue a right-wing architect with an MBA who cheated on his wife and who thrives on sound bites is not necessarily best suited to make sound decisions and run the affairs of a nuclear state at this juncture of history.
Bottom line, Netanyahu must go. He is a liability to Israel and its neighbors. His brand of reactionary politics is myopic. And when contrasted with Rabin's, the differences are painfully clear and rather stark. But who knows, it took a successful assassination attempt to trigger a chain of events which would eventually lead to Netanyahu's rise to power, and it could take a bungled assassination attempt to spell his demise.
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