Yahya Sinwar is Dead. Now Bibi Netanyahu Should Resign.

Israel has confirmed the death of Hamas mastermind Yahya Sinwar in the Gaza Strip. In less than three months, Israel has completed the counter-terror trifecta, killing Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps guest house in Tehran and Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in his Beirut bunker, and now Sinwar. The neutering of thousands of Hezbollah fighters with exploding pagers is simply icing on the cake. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deserves a round of applause, not only from Israelis but also from the Western world more broadly. After all, Hamas and Hezbollah embraced both genocidal ideology and had proven themselves terrorists with global reach.

None of this should exculpate Netanyahu for the mistakes that led to the October 7, 2023 massacre. Netanyahu is a lightning rod in both Israel and the United States. In both Jerusalem and Washington, Bibi Derangement Syndrome predominates in many quarters. As with Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump Derangement Syndrome, its rationality is inversely proportional to its virulence. To suggest Netanyahu must account for the prelude to the worst single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust is fair, though.

Arrogance blinded the Israeli hierarchy from the top down. The Israel Defense Forces ignored the warning signs of a major Hamas operation in advance, and then tried to silence the whistle-blowers after the fact. As leader, the buck stops should stop with Netanyahu.

Netanyahu is a wartime leader and even many critics acknowledge the wisdom of unity and consistency during the height of the fight. After the intelligence failure that allowed Egypt and Syria to surprise Israel on Yom Kippur 1973, Prime Minister Golda Meir continued to lead until Israel defeated both countries. She then faced a commission of inquiry and resigned.

Netanyahu should likewise accept accountability and resign. No man is indispensable, and the Israel Defense Forces often operate despite Netanyahu’s interference and leadership rather than because of it. There are many issues that Netanyahu’s victory against Hamas cand Hezbollah cannot erase: Was Israel aware of the extent of Hamas terror tunnels or of Egyptian smuggling tunnels under the Philadelphi Corridor? Did Israeli overreliance on technology provide an opening for low-tech Hamas to hide in plain sight? Why did the Israeli military or intelligence not take seriously female soldiers on the Gaza border who warned repeatedly and with increasing vehemence that Hamas was planning a major operation?

Netanyahu is one of the most consequential figures in Israeli history. He is the longest-serving prime minister, having been in that post non-consecutively for more than 17 years. In 2003, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon set Netanyahu up to fail by offering him the Ministry of Finance, only to have Netanyahu reform and revitalize Israel’s moribund command economy and oversee the creation of the “start-up nation.” He oversaw both negotiations that led to the Abraham Accords and Israel’s widespread acceptance in the Arab world and major intelligence coups against Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Contrary to his cartoonish depiction in the United States and Europe, he also accepted a two-state solution with the Palestinians, though he demanded rightly that the Palestinians explicitly recognize one state as Jewish.

His failures on October 7, 2023, threatened to erase that legacy. He likely wanted to defeat Hamas not only because it was right but also because it would shape how history remembers him.

With Sinwar’s death, he has achieved that and created an opportunity for a smooth transition from a position of strength. Bibi should end his reign on a high note.

About the Author: Dr. Michael Rubin

Michael Rubin is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and director of policy analysis at the Middle East Forum. A former Pentagon official, Dr. Rubin has lived in post-revolution Iran, Yemen, and pre-and postwar Iraq. He also spent time with the Taliban before 9/11. For over a decade, he taught classes at sea about the Horn of Africa and Middle East conflicts, culture, and terrorism to deployed US Navy and Marine units. Dr. Rubin is the author, coauthor, and coeditor of several books exploring diplomacy, Iranian history, Arab culture, Kurdish studies, and Shi’ite politics. The opinions and views expressed are his own.

This piece has been updated since publication.