Populist Strongmen Are Winning the Long Game

I have met Benjamin Netanyahu twice in my journalistic career. The first time, I was interviewing him about Israel’s start-up economy. The second time, years later, I was part of a small group of mostly American academics and journalists. On both occasions he brought the discussion to the threat from Iran.

He argued that Iran was intent on building a nuclear bomb and using that nuclear bomb to eliminate the state of Israel. The threat was both existential and obvious: You only had to listen to what the Iranians were saying or look at what they were doing. Netanyahu left no doubt that he thought that his purpose on Earth was to prevent a second Holocaust. Everything else — the tireless fight for survival in Israel’s fractious political system and the equally tireless dealmaking on the global stage — was a means to that end.