New Bibi, Same as the Old Bibi?

After a diverse coalition united in 2021 from across the Israeli political spectrum with the singular goal of denying Benjamin Netanyahu another turn at the head of the Israeli government, that coalition collapsed and in November 1 elections to the Knesset, Bibi emerged on top once more.

Netanyahu has dominated Israeli politics since the 1990s, serving as prime minister from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 until 2021. During that time he’s accumulated a controversial reputation for pushing West Bank settlement projects, several wars against Gaza, railing against Iran’s nuclear program, and has most recently been battling a corruption scandal.

Netanyahu has scored his most recent political victory in alliance with some of the most right-wing Jewish nationalist parties in Israeli politics, who are not shy about their anti-Arab views and association with the legacy of the highly controversial Rabbi Meir Kahane. With conflict bubbling across the Palestinian territories, many fear that Bibi's alliance at the helm could quickly spark a conflagration.

So the question remains: can the 73-year-old Bibi reinvent himself once again? Or is it just the same old product in a new packaging?