Josh Marshall has been pointing out since October just how poor a war leader Netanyahu is. His argument yesterday was that Netanyahu has no strategic vision for a post-war Gaza because his coalition would collapse if he put one forward.
Basically, Netanyahu is held rightly responsible for the failures on the Israeli side that led to October 7th. If there are elections, he will almost certainly get trounced. His argument was "Sure, I'm corrupt, but I kept us safe." He can't say that anymore.
What's more, his coalition in the Knesset currently includes the center and the far right. Lose either of those and his government collapses. If his postwar plan is too harsh, he loses the center. If it's too lenient, he loses the right. As a result, his solution is simply not to have a plan.
This is all coming to a head with the conflict within the Israeli coalition and many of its allies over the proposed assault on Rafah. Again, Netanyahu cannot provide a postwar plan and stay in power, so the assault on Rafah - which will be bloody on both sides - has no endgame.
Clausewitz' famous dictum that "war is politics by other means" requires there to be a political endpoint to war - increased national security, economic annexations or reparation...something beyond simple killing. Netanyahu's failure here is why he's simply the worst war leader in Israeli history.
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