nyahu’s statesmanship // (Scott Johnson)

Mid-October saw the publication of Bibi, the Story by Benjamin Netanyahu, the former and future Israeli Prime Minister. Mosaic’s Jonathan Silver just posted the final of Netanyahu’s book-plugging podcasts here and elsewhere on other platforms.

This one was recorded on December 22nd, and is slightly different than the rest.

This interview does not focus on Netanyahu’s early life, as it is depicted in his memoir, nor on the domestic and international challenges and controversies he faces as he returns as president. Instead, the interview focuses on the process and perceptions of political decision-making. The discussion focuses on three major decisions that Netanyahu made in his career: his decision in the early 2000s to liberalize Israel’s economy and to speak before Congress in opposition of the Iran deal in 2015. His decision to take part in a massive 2018 Mossad operation, which resulted in the seizure and publicization of half-a-ton of documents, notes, plans, and records documenting Iran’s nuclear-weapons programme.

I hope you don’t find it too pretentious, but this one focuses on Netanyahu’s statemanship. It was something I thought might be of interest to some readers. The podcast is short and seems to go quickly.