Since coming to power in 1996, Benjamin Netanyahu has made Iran the heart of his security doctrine.
In the second episode of the special i24NEWS series dedicated to the thirty years of the Netanyahu era, relatives, former advisers and detractors look back on this strategic obsession which accompanied the Israeli Prime Minister throughout his career.
From his first speech to the American Congress in 1996 to his standoff with the Barack Obama administration over the Iranian nuclear agreement, Benjamin Netanyahu has continued to present Tehran as the main existential threat weighing on Israel.
Those close to him say he was one of the first leaders to alert the international community to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, despite criticism and accusations of alarmism.
This political line has resulted in constant diplomatic pressure, but also in clandestine operations and intelligence actions aimed at slowing down the Iranian nuclear program.
For its supporters, this determination made it possible to place the Iranian threat at the center of the global agenda and to prepare Israel for a confrontation deemed inevitable.
But this strategy also raises more difficult questions.
After the October 7 massacre, some critics believe that the constant attention paid to Iran has contributed to underestimating other threats, notably that of Hamas in Gaza.
According to this reading, Israel would have concentrated part of its political, security and diplomatic energy on Tehran, while Hamas strengthened its capabilities a few kilometers from the southern localities.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s defenders respond that his decisions were based on the assessments of the security services, who then believed that Hamas was deterred.
The episode also returns to several key moments in his career: the Bar-Ilan speech, the Shalit agreement, the recurring confrontations with Hamas, the disengagement from Gaza and the break with Barack Obama over Iranian nuclear power.
All these files paint the portrait of a leader who has had a lasting impact on Israeli politics, between strategic prudence, Iranian obsession and constant search for international legitimacy.
Thirty years after coming to power, one question remains: will Benjamin Netanyahu go down in history as the man who saw the Iranian threat coming, or as the man who failed to prevent the worst catastrophe suffered by Israel since its creation?
