Notebook | 2 November 2017

There are many reasons political journalists get so many things so badly wrong. One is our tendency to overvalue liberal politicians. This explains why we have misunderstood Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, who has flown to London this week to join Theresa May at a dinner to celebrate the centenary of the Balfour Declaration. Frequently dismissed as a political thug, Mr Netanyahu is arguably the most successful Israeli premier of all time. If he wins the next election, he will overtake David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s father figure, as his country’s longest-serving prime minister. He has seen off all his domestic rivals. He faced down Barack Obama, and anticipated the rise of the alt-right. He has secured international alliances that would have been unimaginable a few years ago. Saudi Arabia is today one of Israel’s closest allies, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India recently visited Israel without even bothering to travel to the Palestinians in Ramallah.