Hollywood Super Agent Ari Emanuel Pens Blistering Piece on ‘Failed’ ‘Narcissist’ Netanyahu: ‘A Disaster For Israel’
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Notorious Hollywood power player Ari Emanuel wrote a damning screed that called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “narcissist” who has “failed spectacularly in keeping Israelis safe.”
The op-ed, entitled “Netanyahu is a disaster for Israel”, was published by Financial Times on Thursday, and Emanuel does not hold back in his criticism of Netanyahu. But as someone who supports Israel and a two-state solution, he also condemned Hamas and the pro-Palestine student protests. He began:
This is a painful moment for all of us who love Israel. It is also a moment that demands we speak out, urgently and fearlessly, against antisemitism and for Israel’s right to defend itself — but also about the ongoing failures of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the need for new leadership.
Israel is a democracy and it is of course up to the Israeli people to choose their own leaders. But Jews in America and around the world also have a stake in this and we can’t remain silent.
After placing the blame for the current conflict on Hamas, Emanuel lashed out at the International Criminal Court and student protestors:
Israel did not start the war in Gaza. Hamas did. On October 7, they broke a ceasefire and slaughtered, raped and tortured innocent civilians. Hamas could end this war today. They could free the hostages, renounce their pledge to wipe out Israel, and stop hiding among civilians in and around schools, mosques and hospitals. They won’t and the result is immense suffering and heartbreaking Palestinian casualties.
That does not justify the International Criminal Court’s outrageous decision a few weeks ago to equate Israel and Hamas. It does not justify the rise in antisemitism on campuses and around the world. When students say Zionists “don’t deserve to live”, we must not excuse them as misguided kids. They are antisemitic thugs. When they chant “from the river to the sea”, they are calling for the elimination of the Jewish state. This isn’t about free speech. It’s about right and wrong.
But he saved his harshest criticism for Netanyahu:
Netanyahu is a narcissist. He has failed spectacularly in keeping Israelis safe. Before October 7, he said his goal was to empower Hamas in Gaza in order to undermine the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and with it the chances of a two-state solution. So he allowed hundreds of millions of dollars from Qatar to be funneled to Hamas.
Netanyahu has failed as a wartime leader. It’s no surprise that Hamas is popping back up in areas of Gaza already cleared once, because Netanyahu has no plan and has refused to learn the lessons of previous conflicts, including America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The generals are practically screaming that he is dangerously incompetent.
Netanyahu has no plan for how to end the war or secure the peace because that’s not his goal. He has only one plan: endless war so he can stay in office and out of jail. On that he is, so far, a success.
Emanuel is far from the first to wonder if Netanyahu’s motives are political. In an interview with TIME Magazine published Tuesday, President Joe Biden did not rule the idea out, saying that “There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion.”
