Skip to main content
The Morning Star 2026 Conference
Rise and Fall of Benjamin Netanyahu
The Israeli PM has lost his status as a ‘modern-day prophet,’ including among Israelis, as opinion polls now tell us, writes RAMZY BAROUD
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pictured before a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, July 25, 2024

GREAT orators in history would not have been recognised as such if their words carried no value. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is neither a great orator, nor did his speech before a US joint Congressional session on July 24 have actual worth. It was an expression of his desperation, if not defeat, on all fronts. 

This is not new. For years, Netanyahu has served the role of a social media meme. During his United Nations general assembly speech in September 2012, the Israeli leader displayed a bomb diagram to fan the flames for another Middle East war. 

His equally bizarre map of the “New Middle East,” which he also carried during another general assembly speech on September 22 2023, also invited mockery. 

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Israel flag
Israel / 21 May 2025
21 May 2025

The intensified Israeli military operations in Gaza are an attempt by Netanyahu to project strength amid perceived political vulnerability, argues RAMZY BAROUD

Israeli troops move with APC, armored personnel carrier, near the border with Gaza, in southern Israel, May 8, 2025
Features / 15 May 2025
15 May 2025

RAMZY BAROUD on how Israel’s narrative collides with military failure

US President Donald Trump (right) shakes the hand of Israel'
Features / 15 April 2025
15 April 2025
Once able to defy a US president before Congress, Netanyahu now finds himself weakened by military setbacks and facing a populist Trump who may yet put ‘America first’ instead of Israel, writes RAMZY BAROUD
BREAKING POINT: Israelis take part in a protest against Prim
Features / 10 April 2025
10 April 2025
Netanyahu’s failed attempt to replace Shin Bet’s chief violates longstanding Israeli political taboos, as the apartheid state’s internal power struggle spirals to a new level of crisis while Gaza burns, writes RAMZY BAROUD