Bibi: My Story by Benjamin Netanyahu

The Middle East is fraught with stories of bravery and stories of cowardice, of war and peace, of all that makes the human heart noble and all that makes it vile. Indeed, throughout history, names that will long be remembered have often carved their mark into the annals of the past because of their actions in this region, which divides three continents: from Lawrence of Arabia to David Ben-Gurion and now, most recently, Benjamin Netanyahu.

It was surprising to me, as I read through the earlier parts of this book, how much time the Prime Minister spent, in his early years, in the United States. This makes his vision of an Israeli-US alliance, akin to that formed by Roosevelt and Churchill during the Second World War, look far less prophetic and far more realistic. Having attended college in the United States, having been the Israeli ambassador to the United States, and having spent a period in Manhattan as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Netanyahu is full of praise for the “arsenal of democracy,” but also warning.

Also surprising is the intense factionalism of Israeli politics. Completely different from the two-party system of the USA, the portrayal of the inner bargains and fights for power, as well as scandal, corruption, and jockeying for parliamentary control, creates an almost laughable picture, yet it is a deadly serious game, for nothing less than the survival of the Jewish state is at stake. It is at once unapologetically partisan, yet rings true nonetheless.

Readers seeking a conventional autobiography will be disappointed. To be clear, Netanyahu does write about his family life, his father’s role in the founding of Israel, and the story of the death of his brother, his hero Yonatan Netanyahu, at Entebbe Airport after the terrorist hijacking. Rather than give only a biography of himself, it seems at times as if Netanyahu is attempting to give a biography of the Middle East, and at that, I certainly believe, he succeeds wonderfully. This is a long book; it is a book that will likely sit on your nightstand and gather dust, but it is a book that should be finished, and when it is finished, you will emerge from your room wiser and more equipped to understand the complex, yet incredibly simple, dynamics of the Middle East.

Having written this book during one of the few brief periods of the last three decades in which he has not been in power, Netanyahu’s highly personal analysis of his life as both a statesman and a man does not include the period for which he is most well-known: specifically, the period following the Hamas massacre of October 7th. However, that is not to say that the book is devoid of interesting periods. From the signing of the Oslo Accords to the Second Intifada, from Cairo to Berlin, Netanyahu captures the prime movers behind the modern geopolitical landscape. Enclosed within these pages are stories of interactions with former Israeli Prime Ministers—some opponents, others, far less, friends: Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin, Ariel Sharon, Naftali Bennett—they are all here, written about by their arch-nemesis and most long-standing opponent, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Also in these pages, you will find intriguing details about US-Israeli relations: from the controversy-fraught administration of Bill Clinton, plagued with scandal at home yet naively hoping to achieve peace with Yasser Arafat, to Barack Obama, who promised to “lead from behind.” Donald Trump and Joe Biden also have a significant role to play, from the Abraham Accords onward.

Neither does the Prime Minister spend all six hundred pages of this book crying over spilled milk or controversial relations with public figures. He does not exclusively concentrate on the present or the future, on what can be if “the right person is elected,” a narrative which so often fills the reminiscences of public figures. To be clear, Netanyahu devotes a considerable amount of time to clearing his own name from controversy and does, at times, seem a little self-serving. Not to excuse him from acting as a human, but his narrative is full of self-praise evinced by other public figures such as Winston Churchill.

Indeed, Netanyahu evokes, at times, an almost Churchillian sense of destiny. And well may he do so, for throughout these pages, although tinted with personal bias, you see before your eyes a figure of immense proportions and vast schemes come to life: a man like all others, full of errors and vanity, but also a man filled with a passion for the true, the good, and the beautiful; a man preoccupied with the defense of his own nation and of Western civilization more broadly.

Review Written by C. A. Gerber

March 17th, 2026

On Democracies and Death Cults by Douglas Murray

What can people do in the face of a culture that worships death?

This is the question that journalist Douglas Murray sets out to answer in his journey through the horrific events of October 7 and their aftermath. With stunning clarity, chilling precision, and bone-shattering honesty, Murray exposes the truth about Hamas and the culture of death that it—and its devotees on the left—engender. The story of Israel is the story of the defense of civilization, he proposes. The Israeli government is not perfect, Murray makes clear—what government is?—but unlike Hamas, the Israeli government operates with the goal of preserving innocent life. Thus, it has gone to lengthier, costlier, yet more life-preserving methods than any other military in recent history, dropping leaflets on buildings before bombing them, thus giving the terrorists a chance to escape but, more importantly, trying to save the lives of innocent civilians caught in the crossfire. Murray also exposes the one-sided antisemitism of the international community, including the media, the United Nations, and governments around the world, which hold Israel to standards that no one else ever has or ever will achieve. The double standard is stunning: No Jews, no news. The author clearly backs up the claims he makes with evidence from intelligence agencies, human rights institutions, and governmental departments, filling the pages with statistics, interviews with prominent Israeli politicians and the families of the hostages, as well as personal details, having traveled both to Israel and the Gaza Strip. He does not exclude gory details—this is not always a good thing—but writes down all the evidence he finds. Pleasant or unpleasant, it remains true.

Murray, an atheist, but one who is, like Agrippa, almost persuaded to believe, ends his work with this Bible verse from Deuteronomy: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live.” In this age of darkness, argues Murray, with Hamas and the evils of radical Islam and radical progressivism, which wholeheartedly support this genocidal clan, the only choice left to us is to choose life.

While the details in this book are often gruesome, and Murray’s conclusion—despite the Bible verse—is largely secular and bounded by time and space rather than the transcendental, the points he makes are ones that everyone should seriously consider. Once more, Murray has delivered a breathtaking work of immense scope and one that should be required reading for all who seek to share their opinions on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Review written by C. A. Gerber

February 27th, 2026