Binyamin Netanyahu at Jerusalem embassy opening
Binyamin Netanyahu at Jerusalem embassy openingYonatan Sindel/Flash90

"---if you just… look at what he actually has done " [Professor Victor Davis Hanson lists the many accomplishments of Donald Trum;p]. In terms of the daily media, the name Trump could as readily be replaced by Netanyahu. Both elicit the same response in the halls of Leftism.

In Avi Shlaim's book, "The Iron Wall, Israel and the Arab World", published in the year 2000, he draws attention to Binyamin Netanyahu's election as leader of the Likud during March, 1993. He also emphasized the importance of Netanayhu’s "major book" A Place among the Nations: Israel and the World" which was released during the same year.

Netanyahu's book was inspired by the teaching of Ze'ev Jabotinsky and Binyamin's farther, Benzion Netanyahu. Its central theme was the right of the Jewish people to the whole Land of Israel. The endorsement by Shlaim is surprising, given that he most definitely arose out of the world of liberalism.

Britain was portrayed as no friend of the Jews, and Chapter 2 on the British Mandate is simply called, "The Betrayal". Nor did the book contain a single positive reference to the Arabs, their history, or their culture.. "Violence is ubiquitous in the political life of all the Arab countries. It is the primary method of dealing with opponents, both foreign and domestic, both Arab and non-Arab."

Much of Netanyahu's vehemence and venom was reserved for the Palestinian Arabs. In his eyes , compromise with the PLO was completely out of the question because its goal was the destruction of the State of Israel, and that, in his view, defined its very essence.

A Place among the Nations was published before the Oslo Accord saw the light of day. Netanyahu's greatest fear at the time was motivated by regarding the PLO as a Pan-Arab Trojan horse, a gift that the Arabs had been attempting to coax the West into accepting for over 20 years in order to have the West apply pressure on Israel to "let it in the gates."

Chapter 7 in Netanyahu's book is called "The Wall", alluding to Ze'ev Jabotinsky's famous 1923 article that called upon the Jews to build an iron wall that would force the Arabs to accept them.

Over and over again, he quoted a Pentagon paper dated 18 June 1967 in support of his argument that for Israel to protect its cities, it must retain military control over virtually all the territory west of the Jordan River. That includes Judea and Samaria.

The Oslo Accord was signed shortly after the publication of Netanyahu's book. The Accord did precisely what Netanyahu had warned against: it recognized the PLO, it conceded the Palestinian Arabs had a legitimate right to self-government, and it began the process of partitioning western “Palestine”.

In his 1995 book, "Fighting Terrorism", Netanyahu, wrote, "At Oslo, Israel, in effect accepted the 1st stage of the PLO's Phased Plan [thanks to Rabin], a gradual withdrawal to the pre-1967 border and the creation of the conditions for an independent PLO state on the borders." Further, he maintained that Labor leaders had bought peace without security, whereas he would bring peace with security.

In consideration of the wide acceptance and success of "A Place Among the Nations: Israel and the World, Benjamin Netanyahu created an updated version in 2000 entitled, "A Durable Peace: Israel and its Place Among the Nations".

The update reflects both recent developments and Netanyahu's unique vantage point. He speaks about living in a time of intense geopolitical change. Communism, fascism and other "isms" are crumbling into dust. But Zionism, the national liberation movement of the Jewish people has triumphantly endured.

What is the secret of that endurance and what is the prognosis for its continued success, he asks? From the rise of Zionism to the latest peace initiatives, he traces the origins, history and politics of Israel's relationship with the Arab world and the West. He exposes some of the most common --and often shocking ----misrepresentations and myths about Arab-Israeli issues, replacing them with facts.

Michael Oren, Former Ambassador of Israel to the US served in the years 2009-2213 as did Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his 1st term. Oren's book "Ally" essentially focuses on what transpired between Obama and Netanyahu. Oren explains that the Netanyahu he got to know was a man who, "less than a modern Jew," reminded Oren "of an ancient Hebrew, a biblical figure with biblical strengths, flaws, appetites, valor, and wrath, scything his foes with rhetorical and political jawbones. "

Speaking of Netanyahu's wife, Oren says "---she struck me as strong-willed, fiercely committed to her husband, and never to be crossed."

On March 3, 2015, Netanyahu spoke before a Joint Session of the US Congress. A few pertinent quotes follows:

"But Iran's regime is not merely a Jewish problem, any more than the Nazi regime was merely a Jewish problem. So, too, Iran's regime poses a grave threat, not only to Israel, but also the peace of the entire world."

" Don't be fooled. The battle between Iran and ISIS doesn't turn Iran into a friend of America."

"Iran has proven time and time again that it cannot be trusted."

Oren demonstrates how throughout the years, and despite severe opposition, Netanyahu consistently engaged the Iran threat verbally. As a further example, a few quotes from his address to the UN General Assembly on September, 19,2017, which Oren considered to be his toughest speech to date on Iran:

" The people of Iran are very talented people. They're heirs to one of the world's great civilizations. But in 1979, they were hijacked by religious zealots - religious zealots who imposed on them immediately a dark and brutal dictatorship. "

"I'm standing here in Washington D.C., and the difference is so stark. America's founding document promises liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Iran's founding document pledges death, tyranny, and the pursuit of Jihad. And, as states are collapsing across the Middle East, Iran is charging into the void to do just that."

In the Middle-East, Iran now dominates 4 Arab capitals, Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut and Sana. And if Iran's aggression is left unchecked, more will surely follow."

Commentary published Paul Johnson's review of "A Place Among the Nations "on July 1993. Amongst his early comments, Johnson exclaims, "He has written what I believe will be widely recognized as by far the most succinct, readable, powerfully argued, and convincing summary of Israel's case." He adds that it is a "must now read" for those interested in the subject.

Johnson draws from Netanyahu 's chronological survey of the Arab-Israel dispute and selected ten "Big Lies" which he is particularly anxious to nail:

* The Arabs are in no sense the residuary legatees of the Philistines, from whom the word Palestine derives.

* Second, the Arab presence in Judea was achieved by conquest and occupation. The 7th century Muslim invasion achieved something which the Romans had failed to do - the uprooting of the Jewish farmer from his soil. As Netanyahu puts it: "It was not the Jews who usurped the land from the Arabs, but the Arabs who usurped the land from the Jews.

In reality, as Netanyahu argues, the true analogy is with Spain, where the Muslim Arab invaders were progressively repulsed, and the country to its original integrity.

* Third lie": that the creation of Israel was a form of colonization, akin to the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem of the Crusaders or the European colonial empires of modern times, all of which has been swept away by the irresistible forces of history, etc.

* The 4th lie or myth is that Zionist Israel was the product of an invasion of Arab Palestine. Arab immigration into the territory took place "pari pasu" with Jewish settlement.

* The 5th lie Netanyahu exposes is that assertion that Arab opinion is unanimous, that Israel's existence is incompatible with Arab rights, prosperity, and happiness.

Under the auspices of the Fathom Forum, Anshel Pfeiffer, author of "The Durable Peace, has created, "To understand what makes Israel tick, today you must understand who Netanyahu is and how he became the man he is" .[on May, 2018] A sampling follows:

Question: What distinguishes your biography of Benjamin Netanyahu from the others that have been published in the last few years?

AP: I wanted the book to be the story of how these outsiders became the insiders. Ze'ev Jabotinsky was the founding father of the ideology of revisionist Zionism, always the outsider to mainstream or Labor Zionism, Ben Gurion's main rival, and died in 1940. Eventually, Menachem Begin emerged as the new leader of Likud. In many ways, Netanyahu is the 3rd generation leader of Likud.

Question: Do you think that worry explains his Iranian policy?

AP: Bibi sees Iran as Israel's greatest threat, not the Palestinian Arabs and not any problems in Israeli society.

Question: Can you explain Bibi's personal animosity to Mahmoud Abbas?

AP: Bibi has antipathy to the Palestinian Arabs in general . He doesn't see why Israel should waste time on them rather than spend time on big things.. like Iran, like the big geopolitical issues.

Danielle Pletka's interview on Nov. 09, 2015 is more personal and rather curious.

On June 15, 2021, National Review published, "Benjamin Netanyahu was no Autocrat.. He pushed limits to protect his power. But he didn't turn Israel into a dictatorship; he helped it become a modern, free, and prosperous society."

A hard-liner on foreign policy, a moderate on social issues, and a capitalist, Netanyahu is, like every other great leader, also a leader with flaws.

Have you read Netanyahu's new autobriography yet?

Alex Rose, [email protected], was born in South Africa in 1935 and lived there until leaving for the US in 1977, where he spent 26 years. He is an engineering consultant. For 18 years he worked for Westinghouse until age 60, whereupon he became self-employed. He was formerly on the Executive of Americans for a Safe Israel and a founding member of CAMERA, New York [Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in Americaת one of the largest media monitoring organizations concerned with accuracy and balanced reporting on Israel. In 2003, he and his wife made Aliyah and reside in Ashkelon.