News Analysis Netanyahu and an Israel Without Restraint

With the assault on Gaza City, Israel’s prime minister has piled defiance on defiance, as any check from the Trump administration falls away.

Palestinians fleeing Gaza City on Tuesday. Credit...Saher Alghorra for The New York Times

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Perhaps his weakest enemy has proved his toughest. He appears to believe that he can force Hamas to surrender or disappear through military might alone, but has been obliged to redefine his approach again and again.

To his opponents, who chant “Anything but Bibi,” Mr. Netanyahu is simply the face of the desecration of Israeli democracy.

At this tense juncture in Israel’s history, Mr. Netanyahu has one clear advantage: the largely uncritical support of President Trump. A world drifting under Mr. Trump’s impulsion in an authoritarian direction had helped birth a Bibi unbound. He is emboldened because, as never before, he is confident that, no matter what, this America will have his back.

“Trump is the only person on earth who can dictate to Bibi what he should do,” Ehud Olmert, a former prime minister and strong critic of Mr. Netanyahu, told me. “He has the power to save thousands of lives.”

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Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border on Tuesday. Credit...Amir Cohen/Reuters

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https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/world/middleeast/netanyahu-israel-gaza.html