Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ranked 24th on Forbes most powerful person list released yesterday. The magazine wrote:
“Second-term hawk insists he’s committed to permanent Palestinian peace treaty, but prospects for peace diminishing. Between a rock and a hard place: Losing political capital abroad after snubbing Obama’s recent call to freeze Jewish settlements. Facing rebellion back home as his right-wing coalition regards any concession on settlements as cause for dismissal. Still, as leader of an undeclared nuclear power, Netanyahu remains the biggest menace to Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Israeli press recently leaked Netanyahu’s “list of millionaires”: U.S. donors he solicited for 2007 campaign efforts, including Steve Ballmer and Rupert Murdoch.”
However, it’s important to note that Netanyahu is only Prime Minister due to the backing of Yisrael Beitenu chief Avigdor Leiberman and his party. That tenuous coalition could easily fall apart and is hamstring Netanyahu from eventual deals with the Palestinians, such as halts on settlement construction. Therefore, while Forbes ranks Netanyahu fairly high on its list, some Israelis might contend that Netanyahu himself would not top the list of only the most powerful Israelis.
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