Benjamin Netanyahu had barely reached the United Nations podium when a sea of delegates jumped from their seats and began walking out in protest at the Israeli prime minister’s speech at the UN General Assembly in late September.
asserted
sea → reach → September
Undeterred, a grinning Netanyahu, who is seeking re-election later this month while being wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes in Gaza, shot back: “If there are any other moral cowards who haven’t left the hall, please do so now.
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who → grin → hall
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4Netanyahu → shape → film
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anything → go → Palestinians
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vote → near → Netanyahu
For his supporters watching in Israel, it was precisely what they wanted to hear.
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they → watch → what
“When they see Netanyahu at the United Nations,” his former aide, Mitchell Barak, told Al Jazeera, “that’s what they want – and it’s hard for them to imagine anyone else doing that.”
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them → see → that
He added: “For many in Israel, but not all, he’s the only man that can truly lead Israel.
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that → add → Israel
He makes them proud to be Jewish.
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them → make → ?
On October 27, Israel must choose between Netanyahu and an assorted number of rivals who are unified by little other than their absolute opposition to Israel’s longest-serving prime minister.
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who → choose → minister
In the eyes of both his supporters and his opponents, as well as much of the world, Netanyahu has become the face of modern Israel.
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Netanyahu → become → Israel
Born in Tel Aviv in 1949 to Benzion Netanyahu and Tzila Segal, he spent his early years between Israel and the United States, the few constants in his life being the profoundly pessimistic views of his father – a right-wing historian who saw a world fundamentally opposed to the existence of Jews – and the military legacy of his brother, Yonatan, who was killed in 1976 while leading a raid to rescue hijacked Israeli hostages in Entebbe, Uganda.
Since then, Netanyahu has gone through numerous iterations.
asserted
Netanyahu → bear → iterations
In 1982, he was named deputy chief of mission at the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC.
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he → name → Washington
Two years later, he was appointed Israel’s ambassador to the UN, before returning to Israel to join the cabinet of then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir as deputy foreign minister in 1988.
asserted
he → appoint → 1988
In 1996, Netanyahu became Israel’s youngest prime minister, leading the first in a series of coalitions that also saw him serving a record 12-year tenure from 2009 to 2021.
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him → become → 2021
He returned to power for a sixth term the next year, leading the most far-right government in Israel’s history.
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He → return → history
From the outset of his political career, he faced growing accusations of having deliberately engineered division to further his own political and personal ends.
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he → face → ends
“Netanyahu is the perfect encapsulation of Israel’s political polarisation,” said political analyst Nimrod Flaschenberg.
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Flaschenberg → say → polarisation
Describing Netanyahu as “always” being “in campaigning mode”, he said the Israeli leader “is very good at building coalitions that reflect public opinion, as well as steering that opinion in his own direction”.
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that → describe → direction
Under Netanyahu’s leadership, Israel has continued to lurch to the right, rejecting the path towards a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict set in motion by his predecessor, the assassinated Yitzhak Rabin.
asserted
Israel → continue → predecessor
At the same time, vast swaths of the Israeli electorate have also grown accustomed to the violent expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and reconciled themselves to the genocide in Gaza following the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023 – for which many still blame Netanyahu for alleged security failures – as well as the multiple wars waged at his direction since.
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many → grow → direction
In July 2018, Netanyahu’s coalition passed the Nation-State Law, declaring the right to national self-determination “unique to the Jewish people”, stripping Arabic of its status as an official language and making the development of Jewish settlements a national value.
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development → pass → settlements
In the law’s wake, settler violence in the occupied West Bank has surged, with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) recording 1,291 attacks in 2023 and 1,835 in 2025.
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Office → occupy → 2025
At least 1,071 Palestinians, including 233 children, have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers since October 7, 2023, according to OCHA, amid what a senior UN official called “virtually no accountability”.
uncertain
official → include → what
More immediately, Netanyahu’s current coalition has seen some of Israel’s most controversial figures – such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, convicted of incitement to racism and support for a “terrorist” group, and the explicitly pro-settlement Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich – placed at the heart of power.
“Netanyahu didn’t create the racism and fascism in Israel, but he’s helped it,” said outgoing parliamentarian Aida Touma-Sliman, of the left-wing Hadash party.
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Sliman → see → party
“He’s smart.
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He → ’ → ?
He knows exactly what he’s doing when he includes people like Smotrich and Ben-Gvir in his government, and he knows the outcome of those appointments.”
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he → know → appointments
“He thrives in chaos,” said Barak, Netanyahu’s former aide from the 1990s.
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Barak → thrive → 1990s
“He’s all about the big picture, of ends justifying means.”
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He → ’ → means
Running through the prime minister’s recent military campaigns have been his long-standing battles against any kind of domestic judicial restraint
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battles → run → restraint
Dogged by corruption cases dating back to 2019, which could see him serve time in prison if convicted, he has been locked in a confrontation with the same legal establishment attempting to hold him to account.
uncertain
he → dog → account
In January 2023, he and his right-wing allies sought to overhaul the judiciary, shaking off much of the oversight of the courts over government action.
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he → seek → action
The proposals led to demonstrations on an unprecedented scale, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets to protest against the contentious move.
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thousands → lead → move
In June 2024, Netanyahu went so far as to appear to suggest that the division created by his reforms was somehow responsible for his own heavily criticised response to the October 7 attack.
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division → go → attack
The ‘devil’ you know
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you → know → devil
Still, while opinion polls show Netanyahu’s Likud party and its allies tied with the broad anti-Netanyahu bloc of similarly right-wing and militaristic parties, the prime minister’s support has weakened.
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support → show → parties
Likud won 32 seats in the 2022 election, but most recent polls project a gain of about 20 to 22, with former supporters appearing to shift either to the opposition or to harder-line right-wing parties.
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supporters → win → parties
The alliance opposing Netanyahu has yet to nominate an official leader, but former army chief Gadi Eisenkot is widely seen as its most likely candidate for prime minister.
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Eisenkot → oppose → minister
“We need to be clear about this,” said Barak.
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Barak → need → this
“He’s essentially running unopposed.
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He → run → ?
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
