SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Although the growing warfare in the Middle East is unsettling, this is not the first time Israel has battled Hamas and Hezbollah simultaneously. It also happened in 1996, when Israelis responded by voting out the incumbent prime minister and voting in a new one, Benjamin Netanyahu. Today, it is Netanyahu's grip on power that is threatened over fights with these same two groups. For a closer look, we are joined by NPR's Greg Myre. Hey, Greg.
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hi, Scott.
DETROW: Bring us back. How did conflicts with Hamas and Hezbollah in 1996 help bring Benjamin Netanyahu into power?
MYRE: So in the run-up to the Israeli election, Hamas carried out suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, killing 60 people. And this was followed by a bloody two-week battle between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. This really rattled many Israelis at a time when Israel and the Palestinians were holding peace negotiations. Now, Netanyahu was deeply skeptical of these talks and promised to emphasize security over negotiations. He was the underdog in the election, but his pledge of tougher security helped him squeak out a narrow, 1% victory over the incumbent prime minister. Netanyahu became Israel's youngest ever prime minister at age 46.
DETROW: And during the periods that he's held power since then, how has Netanyahu handled Hamas?
MYRE: Well, Israel and Hamas have clashed repeatedly in Gaza, though nothing nearly on the scale that we're seeing today, Scott. And no serious peace negotiations have taken place under his leadership. He's been the prime minister 16 of the past 28 years - longer than any other Israeli prime minister. He turned 75 this month. He's now one of the oldest prime ministers in Israel.
And many Israelis are critical because he's never taken personal responsibility for the Hamas attack on October 7 last year. He hasn't brought the Israeli hostages home, and he hasn't met his own goal of completely destroying Hamas. Now, I spoke with Noam Tibon, a retired Israeli Army general and an outspoken critic of Netanyahu.
NOAM TIBON: Whatever will happen in the war, at the end of the day, he is the one that's responsible for the failure of October 7.
DETROW: So the war has been going on in Gaza for a year, and now we're seeing this escalation in Lebanon with Hezbollah. Are Israelis viewing this battle and Netanyahu's approach to it differently in Gaza?
MYRE: So Scott, many are. Before he retired, Noam Tibon was the Army general responsible for Israel's forces on the northern border with Lebanon. He says the military developed very detailed plans over the years and has now delivered this very powerful blow to Hezbollah, much more so than many expected. But he says most of the credit really goes to the military and the Mossad intelligence agency, not Netanyahu, and he questions whether the prime minister will be able to deliver a political solution.
TIBON: You cannot win a war only by military assets. You need some plan - some strategic plan by the government, and Netanyahu is not doing it mainly because of political reason.
MYRE: And Israel's battle with Hezbollah is far from over. Hezbollah's patron, Iran, fired about 180 missiles at Israel last week. We're now expecting an Israeli response.
DETROW: President Biden spoke to Netanyahu today. What do we know about that conversation?
MYRE: Yeah. We know they spoke. This was the first time since August. We don't know if they're in agreement on how Israel should respond. Biden has said he would not support an Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear program. For years, Netanyahu has described this program as the greatest potential threat to Israel. But the U.S. is concerned it could escalate the regional conflict. So here we are nearly three decades later. Netanyahu is in power, and his fate is still closely linked to the same groups, Hamas and Hezbollah.
DETROW: That's NPR's Greg Myre. Greg, thanks so much.
MYRE: Sure thing, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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