The worry over Netanyahu is not his partner Avidgor Liberman — it’s Netanyahu

The Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu will probably be Israel’s next prime minister, propped up by Avigdor Lieberman, who is to the right of Likud. This has set off alarm bells among some politicians in Israel and Jewish leaders in the US, who believe that a clash between Netanyahu and the Obama administration is inevitable.

We see no point in predicting bad developments, since there is no sign from either Netanyahu or Obama of such a clash. However, we, too, are concerned about Netanyahu, but for entirely different reasons. We are concerned about Netanyahu’s stability and his competence. They were sorely lacking in his last run as prime minister, 1996-1999. The only hope is that he has learned a lot in the interim.

On July 31, 1997, Hamas suicide bombers killed 15 people in Jerusalem. Netanyahu reacted viscerally, not deliberately. He showed the opposite of leadership. He demanded that Israel’s foreign security service, Mossad, undertake a mission against its better judgment. He ordered Mossad to assassinate Hamas’ leader Khalid Meshal in Jordan — and ASAP.

By then, Jordan had a peace treaty with Israel. Jordan’s intelligence agency cooperated with Mossad. Netanyahu ignored his advisors who pointed out that to assassinate someone  on Jordanian soil would endanger Israel’s ample and valuable  intelligence sources in Jordan, which were far more important than taking out Meshal in Jordan. Mossad said: Let’s find a different way. Let’s not act in Jordan. Let’s plan this. Mossad said: Patience. Netanyahu said: No! Now! Get him in Jordan!

Mossad had to comply, had to act more quickly than it deemed wise, and poisoned Meshal. But Mossad, acting quickly, botched the operation. Jordan’s King Hussein found out immediately. He was livid and called Netanyahu on the carpet, who immediately — and abjectly — hurried the right antitode to Jordan to save Meshal’s life. Israel saved the leader of Hamas!

It was embarrassing. It was bush league. It was dangerous. It was a manifestation of the impetuosity — the anti-leadership quality — of Netanyahu. Is he different now? We worry and only time will tell.

To be fair, Netanyahu showed great leadership in rescuing Israel’s economy and has expressed the desire to govern from a broad base. Even if he doesn’t succeed in putting together a broad coalition, his mentality has changed. The long and short of it: On Benjamin Netanyahu, the jury’s out.