From the Heights to the Depths

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Binyamin Netanyahu went from the heights to the depths this week: from Trump showering him with praises, making him feel like a chassan at his sheva brachos, blushing endlessly from the compliments — to this Monday’s opening of the Knesset winter session, with its routine verbal blows, curses, and insults.

For Bibi, the two extremes present no contradiction. As he once told me, to survive at the top means being able to come back down to earth, get one’s hands dirty, and fix things, when the situation calls for it — and then go back to dealing with global affairs.

Netanyahu goes into the winter session in fantastic shape. He holds all the cards. Had he wanted to, he could have called for elections immediately after President Trump’s visit.

But Bibi had other goals. Maintaining the coalition, in his view, remains the supreme value. Heading to elections against the backdrop of the war’s end and ongoing diplomatic talks to expand the Abraham Accords and the circle of peace is still, from his perspective, the less desirable alternative.