Here is a question: Imagine social media had been around in the early 1930s. What would Winston Churchill's political rivals have said if he had posted images of German troops marching across Europe, warning of what was to come?
Well, he didn’t have social media, but he did sound the alarm.
Churchill warned of the threat of Hitler in a speech to the British Parliament a mere two months after Hitler came to power. The response? His opponents labeled him a warmonger, his remarks dismissed as hysteria.
On Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu shared an AI image of an Iranian nuclear bomb exploding in Tel Aviv. His principal rival, Gadi Eisenkot, called him “hysterical” and accused him of using “lies and scare tactics”.
Eisenkot might have said the same about Churchill in 1933. History proved that the danger then was not imaginary and that Churchill was right. Very, very right.
Benjamin Netanyahu is today’s Churchill at a time when Israel faces a threat which, in my opinion, is many times greater than Europe faced with Hitler in 1939. We know, tragically, the Holocaust happened before Nazi Germany was defeated. But Israel rose out of its ashes.
This time, more than seven million Jews - and two million Arabs - face annihilation, and, hit by an Iranian nuclear bomb, Israel will not come back again.
The very existence of our country is at stake, and only one man can save it. This is not hyperbole. Gadi Eisenkot dismisses Netanyahu's nuclear warning as political histrionics.
Alternative choices to Netanyahu are one and the same
Eisenkot’s allies offer little reassurance either. Naftali Bennett has already shown his willingness to lead a government which included the left-wing Meretz and the Islamist Ra'am.
Avigdor Lieberman for years supported a two-state solution involving handing over territory. And Yair Golan? Here is a would-be prime minister who suggested that Israel killed babies in Gaza "as a hobby"!
Why do I mention these names? Because they are the alternative choice to Netanyahu when Israelis go to the polls on Tuesday. Vote for one and you vote for them all.
They are the Change Bloc - an assortment that has only one thing in common: ousting Bibi. That objective is their only common ground. Not policy. Not ideology. Not the direction of Israel’s future. Just toppling one man. Beyond that, chaos.
We have witnessed what happens when chaos and division ensue. Hamas saw the demonstrations, the incitement, the refusals to serve in the IDF, the appearance of Israel as vulnerable. The result was October 7th.
Who was behind the protests? The same forces trying to bring Bibi down today. The same forces who do not see the writing on the wall. The same forces who think Netanyahu is a greater threat to Israel than Iran. This is delusional, and it is fatal.
Had Iran had the chance, Israel would not be here now. Believe Iranian leaders when they say they want to destroy us. It did not end with the elimination of Khamenei.
On the contrary, Iran is more determined than ever to get its hands on a nuclear bomb. It is already rebuilding its nuclear facilities and will recover the enriched uranium - currently buried under rubble thanks to US and Israeli strikes - needed for a weapon.
It is only a matter of time. Netanyahu knows this, and only Netanyahu can stop this. Netanyahu is the reason why Iran has not yet managed to build a nuclear bomb. Netanyahu saw the writing on the wall, 30 years ago. He was the Churchill of the day then, and he still is now.
If Iran gets the bomb, no amount of street protests will make it disappear. Political differences will not make it disappear. Neither will arguments about the cost of living or judicial reform.
Iran does not fear Eisenkot, Bennett, Lieberman or Golan. Iran only fears Netanyahu. If you care about Israel, if you care about your children, and if you care about your grandchildren, when you vote on Tuesday, make sure it stays that way.