How Would You Counsel Prime Minister Netanyahu in a Samson Moment?
I attended another very powerful MJTI PEP class with Rabbi Elliot Klayman yesterday (cf. Pope Leo XIV's first Urbi et Orbi address and Apostolic Blessing). Rabbi Elliot's masterful 4-week breakdown of the four chapters about Samson in the Book of Judges has revolved around Judges 14:4 and Hebrews 11:32-34. After showing how there is a bit of Samson in all of us, one of the many perceptive questions Rabbi Elliot asked us to think about is how we would counsel Samson. This Friday, as I sit down to write at 10:30 AM Eastern, I am thinking about the post-October 7 Samson that is found in every living member of the Jewish, Messianic Jewish, and Christian Zionist commonwealth worldwide. Does this inner Samson of ours express itself in anyone more iconically today than in Prime Minister Netanyahu?
Whether you have agreed with him or disagreed with him on any or all of his post-October 7 judgment calls, Prime Minister Netanyahu is inarguably a Samson in the length of his service to Israel and in the controversiality of his strength. Weakened (perhaps like Trump) by the clever machinations of a rich and beautiful Qatari Delilah, blinded by the eye-searing atrocities of October 7, Netanyahu-as-Samson now stands pilloried by the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice with two mighty pillars of resistance in his hands: Hamas in Gaza and the nuclear program in Iran. What should Netanyahu do? Trump is returning from the Middle East. Hamas has not yet surrendered. The two-month deadline for Iranian compliance with Trump's nuclear ultimatum is fast approaching. Netanyahu's final military moves against Hamas and Iran weigh in the balance. We are all holding our breath. What will Netanyahu do now? What should he do?
Trump says that people are starving in Gaza. The IDF has been relentless from the air but relatively restrained on the ground. The full might of Gideon's Chariots has not yet swept into action. There is a strong case to be made on the right that Netanyahu should scale up an offensive against both Hamas and Iran as early as this Shabbat or this Sunday. Is it our job (including in the center right) to counsel Netanyahu in his Samson moment to step back from the brink, even if it collapses his coalition?
The hard answer is "Yes." Step back from the brink, Prime Minister Netanyahu. Don't give the ICC or the ICJ what they want. Put full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza on the table in exchange for all the hostages and Hamas demilitarization. Accept the inevitability of a two-state solution, at least for Gaza. Trust Trump on the nuclear deal. You cannot strongman your way through Gideon's Chariots without destroying yourself and hurting Israel in the process. It's worth collapsing your coalition to rescue the hostages, bolster your legacy and secure the national welfare. Your vision will return even better than before, if you allow Adonai to heal you.
This is my current thought, anyway. What is yours? How would you counsel Prime Minister Netanyahu in this difficult Samson moment? I might see it differently tomorrow. Netanyahu has proven me wrong in the past.