Candle in the Dark

OPEN COMMUNICATION Bibi Netanyahu in conversation with Mishpacha’s Yossi Elituv and Aryeh Ehrlich. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu may be facing down enemies from without and within but all that hasn’t stopped him from waving the banner of resistance when it comes to pressure and concessions. With a biography of Alexander Hamilton on his desk the prime minister says he’s inspired by this leader to whom America owes its existence “and who had a fierce admiration for the Jewish nation” (Photos: Flash90 Ezra Landau)

T wo large glass doors separate the outside world from the bubble in which the State of Israel is managed. Few are granted entry to the heavily guarded complex — known as the “aquarium” — and then only after forfeiting all telephones recording devices or any other electronic equipment.

Outside the political sabers are rattling while the media punctuates virtually every broadcast with solemn reports of investigations and scandals surrounding Prime Minister Netanyahu. Inside the aquarium though not a ripple disturbs the calm. In this bastion of security and confidence secretaries neatly tiptoe around the man who leads the government careful not to violate his few moments of tranquility amid long hours of tension.

The past year has been one of the stormiest of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s political life. Two of his close confidants private attorneys Yitzchak Molcho (Bibi’s envoy for secret trips around the world including to Arab countries) and David Shimron (who manages his personal and public dealings and is also Bibi’s cousin) were also caught in the thunder and Ari Harrow his close former aide found himself under police investigation as well. Netanyahu is walking around with a virtual sword upon his neck while an entire investigative committee combs through his affairs from morning till night. Nearly 500 people have been interrogated in the case including journalists philanthropists bankers employees and even pizza deliverymen. But none of this fazes the prime minister who really seems to believe the slogan he coined: “They won’t find anything because there’s nothing to be found.”