Netanyahu Uses Lieberman Appointment to Bring Israel’s Military to Heel

Netanyahu Uses Lieberman Appointment to Bring Israel’s Military to Heel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman during a Likud-Yisrael Beitenu campaign rally, Ashdod, Israel, Jan. 16, 2013 (AP photo by Tsafrir Abayov).

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has done it again.

It seemed like only yesterday that he was claiming Hitler didn’t want to exterminate the Jews until he was convinced to do so by the grand mufti of Jerusalem; that he was race-baiting Israeli Arabs to win re-election; that he was sticking his finger in the eye of the U.S. president—the leader of Israel’s closest ally—over the Iran nuclear deal.

But with Netanyahu, there’s always some new provocation. This month, he struck at the very heart of the civilian-military relationship in Israel, in the process showing once again that there is nothing he won’t do to increase his political advantage and play to the fears and anxieties of his supporters.

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