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| Netanyahu Opted for Limited Strikes in the Past. This Is His First All-Out War. | Netanyahu Opted for Limited Strikes in the Past. This Is His First All-Out War. |
| (about 11 hours later) | |
| “We are at war,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared after Hamas fighters carried out harrowing attacks on Israeli civilians. | “We are at war,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared after Hamas fighters carried out harrowing attacks on Israeli civilians. |
| And Mr. Netanyahu has swiftly assumed the mantle of a wartime leader, rallying his people, mobilizing support on the world stage, assembling a war cabinet and massing the Israeli Army outside the Gaza Strip for what could be one of the largest, most perilous operations in its history. | And Mr. Netanyahu has swiftly assumed the mantle of a wartime leader, rallying his people, mobilizing support on the world stage, assembling a war cabinet and massing the Israeli Army outside the Gaza Strip for what could be one of the largest, most perilous operations in its history. |
| Yet Mr. Netanyahu is, in some ways, an unlikely leader for an Israel on the brink of war. In his 15 years as prime minister, he has steadfastly resisted major military entanglements, preferring targeted airstrikes or special operations. His reluctance had, until this past week, made him something of a contradiction: a bellicose-sounding leader who has shied away from all-out war. | Yet Mr. Netanyahu is, in some ways, an unlikely leader for an Israel on the brink of war. In his 15 years as prime minister, he has steadfastly resisted major military entanglements, preferring targeted airstrikes or special operations. His reluctance had, until this past week, made him something of a contradiction: a bellicose-sounding leader who has shied away from all-out war. |
| Despite years of warning about the threat from Iran, covert efforts to sabotage its nuclear program and even assassinations of Iranian scientists, Mr. Netanyahu never ordered a military strike on that country. It’s a decision that relieved American officials, who urged him against doing it, even as it reinforced a view among some in the Obama administration that the Israeli leader lacked courage. | Despite years of warning about the threat from Iran, covert efforts to sabotage its nuclear program and even assassinations of Iranian scientists, Mr. Netanyahu never ordered a military strike on that country. It’s a decision that relieved American officials, who urged him against doing it, even as it reinforced a view among some in the Obama administration that the Israeli leader lacked courage. |
| At home, Mr. Netanyahu has presented himself as an unflinching guarantor of Israel’s security, less by going into battle than by managing conflicts with the Palestinians, leaning on allies like the United States, opening lines to old enemies like Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states, and falling back on tough talk. | |
| “None of Israel’s major wars have been on his watch,” said Anshel Pfeffer, a columnist at the Israeli news outlet Haaretz, who wrote a biography, “Bibi: The Turbulent Life and Times of Benjamin Netanyahu.” “He’s never been quick to mobilize and send in the whole army, which is in line with his character and experience.” |