It appears that there are some people in America who describe criticism of Netanyahu as antisemitism and being anti-Israel. That is like people describing criticism of Donald Trump as anti-Americanism. There are many Jewish people, and any number of them are against Netanyahu’s actions.
So Netanyahu probably deems himself the man for waging war in Gaza Strip. He probably thinks that his actions make Jews stronger. They do not. They feed anti-Jewish sentiment and endanger Jews both inside and outside of Israel. Having an asshole in power tarnishes by association anyone having anything to do with the asshole, even if they don’t know him and had no influence on him.
I am a Russian Jew. I have to wear the crown of shit as a result of actions of two assholes – Putin and Netanyahu. Both are assholes, so many people think that the people they represent – the Russians and the Jews – are assholes as well. Of course America, and to an even greater extent England and Germany, have had their share of assholes in power. And I do not recommend military action against any of the above.
As I wrote earlier, Putin broke my heart. I supported him, then he waged that terrible war in Ukraine. As for Netanyahu, I never supported him. It appears that Israel reached its apex with Yitzhak Rabin, and nobody after that remotely compared in wisdom or integrity.
Is criticism of Netanyahu or Israel antisemitism? Not at all. If one does something wrong, it should be expected that he would get criticized. This is the case whether you are an African, a Middle Easterner, a Russian, a Hindu, an American or a Jew. With equality comes accountability. Massacring civilians should never be acceptable. Bombing apartment houses should never be acceptable. Making people starve should never be acceptable. Being a Jew must never be seen as an excuse for hideous actions. Jews have a lot of good qualities and they have a lot going for them. They do not need to resort to brutality or asininity; indeed doing such things is, and always will be, seen as disgrace for Jewish people and discredit the good work that they are doing elsewhere.
With Netanyahu, I have had no influence on him, and I refuse to be blamed for his actions. I can however say what I think of him and his policies. He is disgrace to Jewish people and a source of danger to Jewish people. I hope that Israelis pick up what’s left of their democracy and vote for a better leader. A country that can vote for Yitzhak Rabin can choose another good leadership. And that will do much more to achieve safety for Jewish people than does Netanyahu.