Benjamin Netanyahu, the Captain Ahab of the Middle East
I see I’m not the only one to think of the metaphor of Captain Ahab and Moby Dick in connection with Benjamin Netanyahu’s obsession with Iran.
Ofri Ilany just used it in a column:
The prevailing attitude in the anti-Netanyahu camp tends to see him as cynical and corrupt. The protest movements have generally depicted him as a hedonist heading a Byzantine court saturated with pink champagne and cigar smoke. Many believe that the submarine affair of yore and the Qatar scandal are just the tip of a vast iceberg, harboring corruption on a humongous scale, and that sooner or later it will emerge that over the years, the Netanyahu family stole huge sums from the state.
I thought so as well in the past. But somehow the hedonist portrayal just hasn't stuck. After all, the prime minister is an extraordinarily grim and stern man. This dark disposition was captured precisely by Donald Trump, who recently described Netanyahu as an "angry man." The situation in which we now find ourselves exposes the truth about his personality. The political phenomenon known as Benjamin Netanyahu, which has been determining our fate for generations, is revealing its true nature now more than ever.
Like Ahab, Netanyahu is unrestrained and out of touch. This has certainly resulted in resounding failures, culminating in October 7. However, these failures did not emerge out of extreme decadence, but are due rather to his total devotion to an obsessive personal mission: a life-and-death struggle against the Islamic Republic of Iran and its leader Ali Khamenei. This is far more alarming than mere political corruption.1 [my emphasis]
The analogy of Captain Ahab is often associated with obsession. But particularly with self-destructive obsession and fanaticism:
Ultimately, the prime minister's prophecy of an unavoidable clash fulfilled itself. We are now facing a fateful final act. Just before his final exit from the stage, Ahab had to surrender to the death drive and steer the ship straight toward the whale. And even if everything was to shatter into pieces, Ahab would not change, nor would he abandon his mission. [my emphasis]
Netanyahu is taking his country and the whole region toward a much worse situation.
With the full cooperation of Peace President Trump.
Ahab’s final battle with the White Whale
And he has created a nightmare for his country and for the Palestinian civilians he is targeting. Ahmed Ahmed and Ibtisam Mahdi report on the nightmare he and the Israeli Defense Forces have created at the aid-distribution locations for starving Gazans:
After two months without a single drop of food, medicine, or fuel entering Gaza, a trickle of white flour and canned goods has been allowed in since late May. Most of it has gone to sites in Rafah and the Netzarim Corridor managed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), guarded by private American security contractors and Israeli soldiers. On June 10, small shipments also began arriving via aid trucks operated by the World Food Programme (WFP).
But with hunger deepening, people no longer wait for the trucks to move safely past Israeli troops. Instead, they rush toward them the moment they appear, desperate to grab whatever they can before supplies vanish. Tens of thousands gather at the distribution points, sometimes for days in advance, and many go home empty-handed.
Starving civilians gather in massive crowds, waiting for permission to approach. In many instances, Israeli troops have opened fire on the masses — and even during distribution itself — killing dozens as they try to collect a few kilos of flour or canned goods to bring home in what Palestinians have dubbed “The Hunger Games.”
Since May 27, well over 400 Palestinians have been killed and over 3,000 wounded while waiting for aid, according to Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basel. The deadliest single attack on aid seekers occurred on June 17, when Israeli forces fired tank shells, machine guns, and drones into a crowd of Palestinians in Khan Younis, killing 70 and injuring hundreds.2 [my emphasis]
A genuine horror show. The kind of scenes fanaticism and obsession can produce.
And the fanaticism in both America and Israel is made worse for nationalistic religious/apocalyptic influences:
To his evangelical base, Trump is fulfilling end times prophecies before their eyes. Moving the [US] embassy [from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem during Trump’s first turn] was but the first step in reorienting US policy toward prophecy. What is happening right now — with the US joining with Israel in this bombing — is nothing less than God's work, and they believe that they are the recipients of the long-awaited promise of Jesus' return.
… [T]he MAGA "Jesus" and their particular prophecy tradition only dates to the mid-1800s. It was a completely invented theology about 200 years ago.
Yet that theological innovation has been one of the most wildly successful heresies in the history of Christianity in terms of spread and influence — mostly via Pentecostalism, the largest and most sustained global religious movement of the last century.3
Abed Abou Shhadeh also elaborates on that theme:
Israel’s decision to attack Iran cannot be interpreted through any rational lens. It directly contradicts Israel’s longstanding military doctrine, which was built on short, decisive operations aimed at securing tangible strategic goals - a doctrine rooted in Israel’s inherent geographic, economic and demographic vulnerabilities.
What we are witnessing now is a fundamental shift: the abandonment of strategic realism in favour of a theology-driven war without end.
The transformation is stark. Israel is evolving from a western-backed colonial project seeking international legitimacy, into a messianic colonial enterprise that thrives on perpetual war. The growing use of religious rhetoric and the enlistment of God into the logic of war underscore this systemic change.4 [my emphasis]
Hany, Ofri (2025): Without Iran, There's No Netanyahu. He's Obsessed, and Israel Has Been Swept Up in It. Haaretz 06/21/2025. <https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-06-21/ty-article-opinion/.highlight/without-iran-theres-no-netanyahu-hes-obsessed-and-israel-has-been-swept-up-in-it/00000197-8f3c-d879-a5df-bf7d22240000> (Accessed: 2025-21-06).
Ahmed, Ahmed [sic] & Mahdi, Ibtisam (2025): ‘The Hunger Games’: Inside Israel’s aid death traps for starving Gazans. +972 Magazine 06/20/2025. <https://www.972mag.com/hunger-games-israel-gaza-food-aid/> (Accessed: 2025-21-06).
Bass, Dian Butler (2025): War and Prophetic Ecstasy: Bombing Iran and Evangelical Dreams. The Cottage 06/22/2025). (Accessed: 2025-22-06).
Shhadeh, Abed Abou (2025): Israel-US attack on Iran: The price of Netanyahu's forever wars. Middle East Eye 06/22/2025. <https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-us-war-iran-the-price-netanyahus-messianic-wars> (Accessed: 2025-22-06).