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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu persistently declares his ambition to 鈥渃hange the face of the Middle East.鈥� Yet his repeated assertions seem to clash with the unfolding reality on the ground.
Netanyahu鈥檚 opportunistic relationship with language is now proving detrimental to his country. The Israeli leader undoubtedly grasps fundamental marketing principles, particularly the power of strong branding and consistent messaging. However, for any product to succeed over time, clever branding alone is insufficient; the product itself must live up to at least a minimum degree of expectation.
Netanyahu鈥檚 鈥減roduct,鈥� however, has proven utterly defective. Yet the 75-year-old Israeli prime minister stubbornly refuses to abandon his outdated marketing techniques.
But what, exactly, is Netanyahu selling?
Long before assuming Israel鈥檚 leadership, Netanyahu mastered the art of repetition 鈥� a technique often employed by politicians to inundate public discourse with specific slogans. Over time, these slogans are intended to become 鈥渃ommon sense.鈥�
As a member of the Knesset in 1992, Netanyahu delivered what appeared to be a bombshell: Iran was 鈥渨ithin three to five years鈥� from obtaining a nuclear bomb. In 1996, he urged the US Congress to act, declaring that 鈥渢ime is running out.鈥�
Iran has remained his primary focus
Dr. Ramzy Baroud
While the US pivoted its attention toward Iraq, following the September 2001 attacks, Netanyahu evidently hoped to eliminate two regional foes in one stroke. Following the fall of the Iraqi government in 2003, Netanyahu channeled all his energy into a new discourse: Iran as an existential threat.
Between then and now, Iran has remained his primary focus, even as regional alliances began to form around a discourse of stabilization and renewed diplomatic ties.
However, the Obama administration, especially during its second term, was clearly uninterested in another regional war. As soon as Obama left office, Netanyahu reverted to his old marketing strategy.
It was during Trump鈥檚 first term that Netanyahu brought all his marketing techniques to the fore. He utilized what is known as comparative advertising, where his enemies鈥� 鈥減roduct鈥� is denigrated with basic terms such as 鈥渂arbarism,鈥� 鈥渄ark age,鈥� and so forth, while his own is promoted as representing 鈥渃ivilization,鈥� 鈥渆nlightenment,鈥� and 鈥減rogress.鈥�
He also invested heavily in the FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) marketing technique. This entailed spreading negative or misleading information about others, while promoting his own as a far superior alternative.
This brings us to 鈥渟olution framing.鈥� For instance, the so-called 鈥渆xistential threats鈥� faced by Israel can supposedly be resolved through the establishment of a 鈥渘ew Middle East.鈥� For this new reality to materialize, the US, he argues, would have to take action to save not only Israel but also the 鈥渃ivilized world.鈥�
It must be noted that Netanyahu鈥檚 鈥渘ew Middle East鈥� is not his original framing. This notion can be traced to a paper published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in March 2004. It followed the US war and invasion of Iraq, and was part of the intellectual euphoria among US and other Western intellectuals seeking to reshape the region in a way that suited US geopolitical needs.
The Carnegie article sought to expand the definition of the Middle East beyond the traditional Middle East and North Africa, reaching as far as the Caucasus and Central Asia.
American politicians adopted this new concept, tailoring it to suit US interests at the time. It was US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who largely rebranded 鈥済reater鈥� to 鈥渘ew,鈥� thus coining the 鈥渘ew Middle East,鈥� which she announced in June 2006.
Clever branding alone is insufficient
Dr. Ramzy Baroud
Though Netanyahu embraced the term, he improvised it in recent years. Instead of speaking of it as a distant objective, the Israeli leader declared that he was actively in the process of making it a reality. 鈥淲e are changing the face of the Middle East. We are changing the face of the world,鈥� he triumphantly declared in June 2021.
Even following the events of Oct. 7, 2023, and the Israeli war and assault on Gaza that ensued, Netanyahu never ceased using the term. This time, however, his emphasis on 鈥渃hange鈥� rotated between a future possibility and an active reality. 鈥淚 ask that you stand steadfast because we are going to change the Middle East,鈥� he said on Oct. 9 of that same year.
And again, in September 2024, he proclaimed that Israel was 鈥減ursuing鈥� a plan to 鈥渁ssassinate Hezbollah leaders鈥� with the aim of 鈥渃hanging the strategic reality of the Middle East.鈥� And again, in October, December, and January of this year. In every instance, he contextualized the 鈥渃hange of the Middle East鈥� with bombs and rockets, and nothing else.
In May, coinciding with a major Israeli bombing of Yemen, he declared that Israel鈥檚 鈥渕ission鈥� exceeds that of 鈥渄efeating Hamas,鈥� extending to 鈥渃hanging the face of the Middle East.鈥� And, finally, on June 16, he assigned the same language to the war with Iran, this time remaining committed to the new tweak of adding the word 鈥渇ace鈥� to his new, envisaged Middle East.
Of course, old branding tactics aside, Netanyahu鈥檚 Middle East, much like the old US 鈥済reater Middle East,鈥� remains a pipe dream aimed at dominating the resource-rich region, with Israel serving the role of regional hegemon. That said, the events of the past two years have demonstrated that, although the Middle East is indeed changing, this transformation is not happening because of Israel. Consequently, the outcome will most likely not be to its liking.
Therefore, Netanyahu may continue repeating, like a broken record, old colonial slogans, but genuine change will only happen because of the peoples of the region and their many capable political players.
- Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of six books. His latest book, co-edited with Ilan Pappe, is 鈥淥ur Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out.鈥� His other books include 鈥淢y Father was a Freedom Fighter鈥� and 鈥淭he Last Earth.鈥� He is a nonresident senior research fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs. His website is . X: @RamzyBaroud