Sara Netanyahu’s infatuation with Madonna is likely to push back any Israeli pre-emptive strike against Iranian nuclear sites, sources inside the Prime Minister’s Office revealed Wednesday.
With the American superstar, the Red Hot Chili Peppers – and possibly even Guns N’Roses – coming to perform here over the next few months, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is struggling to find the right date this summer to strike Iran.
“Bibi, and especially Sara, love those acts and do not want to miss the chance of seeing them play in Israel,” said the source, adding that Sara Netanyahu’s favorite singer is Madonna, and that since the two “divas” met-up last time the Material Girl was in town, they have become fast Facebook buddies.
“They are very good friends, poking each other all the time and sharing each others posts. Madonna even lent Mrs. Netanyahu a pointed bustier and a pair of thigh-high latex boots last time they met in London,” said the source, who is close to the prime minister and his family.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed Netanyahu’s summer dilemma, adding that the PM himself has become a big fan of social-media forum Facebook in recent months ever since the round of satirical “Dugri” images of himself had gone viral.
“The prime minister especially takes note of activist groups on Facebook asking him for things,” said the spokesman, referring to a recent Facebook group that called on Netanyahu to hold off Israel’s preemptive strike on Iran until after Madonna had performed on May 31.
Despite his new-found affection for social media, some activists are growing increasingly frustrated that the prime minister has totally ignored the so-called social protests over the high cost of living in Israel, which gained momentum here last summer thanks to social-media networks.
“He has yet to reduce the cost of living here, and did not really respond to our online protest about the high price of orthopedic walking shoes,” said Dudu Cohen, who founded “Walk in My Shoes,” a Facebook group expressing anger over the high price of such shoes in Israel.
Prof. Yehiel P. Abramovitch, an expert in the history of social protests, said it was unlikely that the government would reduce the cost of orthopedic shoes, but theorized the prime minister may strike Iran as a way to distract attention away from economic hardships here.
“The prime minister is in a difficult situation,” he said. “On the one hand he loves Madonna and Guns N’ Roses; on the other hand, he does not want a repeat of last summer where hundreds of thousands of people were calling for him to ‘go home’ as they protested through the streets.”
Abramovitch concluded that Bibi might not have a choice but to attack Iran.
“It’s easier than forming a valuable economic policy that will actually allow the majority of Israel’s public not to have to take out a bank loan in order to pay for Madonna tickets,” he concluded.