I couldn't link to the clip, but I've always enjoyed listening to Netanyahu. He's a wise and eloquent speaker.

I think Bibi's appeal is that he is so unapologetically a hard liner. He'll look you right in the eye and say, "yeah, we bulldoze terrorist's houses, so what?"

Joannah:

Sorry the clip didn't work. I cheked it on a PC and a Mac; the link is fine. Try finding the original You Tube clip. You'll be glad you did.

Fern:

Very true—and he just tells the truth about the Islamic terrorists.

Thanx for the link Robert. I loved when he said "Hezbollah doesn't exist, they are just a front for Iran. We are fighting Iran, so are you."

He's sort of the Rudy Giuliani of Israel. They get it so well and are so unafraid to say it that you forgive them the corruption, the bad temper, the divorces, the support for abortion, the whatever. None of that is important, because they get it.

Yehudit:

You're welcome. You are the James Brown of the web: the hardest working woman in the Jewish blogosphere.

I have long believed that Bibi did a great job bringing a more mature free market capitalism to Israel, and throwing off the old yokes of socialism.

I also believe that he is the best man to be the next Prime Minister. The next round with Hizbullah/Iran is fast approaching, and Israel cannot afford to have Olmert & Co. in power. Nor the strategically suicidal Barak who is readying his next run.

No, as you say, with all of Bibi's problems, he is the only man who understands Israeli National Security—on a geopolitical level, and is a hard-man, in the best sense of the word, meaning: the Arabs are afraid of him, thus: he is the last man the Arabs want to see as Israeli Primie Minister.

Once again, thanks so much for all your fine work on Kesher. Every hour of the day you perform a world of mitzvot.

Bibi always plays better on American TV than he does in Israel. Despite what the Anti-Semites say, Israel is not the 51st state of the U.S., and the people there react to the same stimuli differently.

But Robert is right... NO credible voice about Israel ever says he was anything less than a great finance minister. I get this from very left-wing Israelis and former Israelis who do not otherwise want to even THINK about Netanyahu.

As Charles Krauthammer says, it's up to Netanyahu to defeat his personal demons... specifically his propensity to give his friends the same tough treatment he gives his enemies... if he wants to be PM again and serve for a good long time.

When it comes to Israel Bill Maher may not be as tough an audience as you would expect for a (political) lefty.
(Warning: there may be some profanity in the link, I don't remember.)

And regarding Netanyahu, you (and some others) pointed this out a few months ago.

Robert:

Great clip. I will link to it later when I have a chance.

Love him or hate him, it is such a pleasure to hear him as opposed to the usual Israeli spokemen who can't put a simple sentence together in English. even when then have a good point to make, you're just not sure what they are trying to say.

Jake:

"NO credible voice about Israel ever says he was anything less than a great finance minister. I get this from very left-wing Israelis and former Israelis who do not otherwise want to even THINK about Netanyahu."

If by "left wing Israelis" you mean the ones who live it up in savyon while giving lip service to the cause of uplifting the lower class, then yes.

But from what I remember, at the time he was assailed for his reforms by some of those same leftists who today are in power (e.g., Peretz).

Ari:

Like I said, no CREDIBLE voices.

Thanks for the H/T! (We need more Bibi all over the US media.)

Jeremiah:

You're very welcome. We need more Jeremiah all over the blogosphere.

A freileche Purim!