Netanyahu’s political opponents rubbish his performance

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s political opponents and rivals at home slammed his speech in Congress with every possible epithet, unbearably irritated by his success in rocking the US Capitol and striding the world stage two weeks before Israel’s general election. The television images and love of Israel displayed by the US Congress were too powerful to dismiss, but his rivals did their best. They warned that by alienating the White House, he endangered national security. But this sort of criticism has in the past played to the advantage of Netanyahu and his Likud. The March 17 vote will determine whether this pattern still holds true, or the prime minister’s much-criticized inadequacies in domestic policies prevail with the Israeli public.