Norman Finklestein on Benjamin Netanyahu: "He's an obnoxious, narcissistic, Jewish supremacist"

If you read the liberal commentators or commentators of the West, every few months they're predicting the end of Netanyahu's rule.  It doesn't happen because Netanyahu, he is a reflection and a representation of Israeli society.  He's an obnoxious, narcissistic, Jewish supremacist who thinks that only Jews [howth, inaudible] in God's grand design.  Everybody else - the Goyim, as they're called - they have no place in God's grand design except where Israel decides to situate or place them.

So the first fact is we have to bear in mind he remains, even now, very popular in Israel.  The claim is his standing up to Iran has increased his popularity, but as a general rule.

Number two: Israel is a democracy.  Were it true that his policies were unpopular, another candidate would emerge.  That's the nature of a democracy.  Have you heard of another candidate who has emerged by dissociating himself with or denouncing Netanyahu's policies.  The answer is "no."

Number three: It's not just the Israeli state.  If you look at the Israeli society - I'm not talking about the people at the helm of the state - the Israeli society overwhelmingly, overwhelmingly supports the genocidal war in Gaza.  It's about 95% of the Jewish Israelis...  I have the statistics right here...  "About 60% of Israeli Jews oppose any humanitarian aid to Gaza..."  In polls on the issue of the war, only 1.8% (that was in October), 7% (that was in December) and 3.2% (that's January) of Jewish Israelis believe the IDF was using too much firepower in Gaza.

~ Norman Finklestein, "Norman Finklestein: All you know about Israel is wrong," PoliticsJOE, 0:15 mark, May 2, 2024