Binyamin Netanyahu is botching the war. Time to sack him

There is mayhem in the Middle East. In 2m war-battered civilians are at risk of famine. by the Houthis threaten world trade. Israel’s northern border is tense after the assassination of a Hamas leader in Beirut on January 2nd. A day later two explosions killed almost 100 people in Iran; the Iranians at first blamed “terrorists”, and then America and Israel. War could break out between Israel and , the Iran-backed militia in Lebanon. Two things are clear. The attacks of October 7th are reshaping the Middle East. And under Binyamin Netanyahu’s leadership, Israel is making blunders that undermine its own security.Since the slaughter of Israeli civilians by Hamas in October, Israel has had to rethink its long-standing security doctrine. That doctrine involved giving up on peace with the Palestinians, building walls and using technology to repel missile attacks and infiltrations. It didn’t work. The Palestinians were radicalised and the walls did not stop the atrocities of October 7th. Israel’s air defences may yet be overwhelmed by the increasingly sophisticated arsenal of missiles aimed at it by Iran-backed militants in Lebanon, Yemen and elsewhere.