Benjamin Netanyahu must be stopped | Moustafa Bayoumi

War is the prime minister’s doctrine. Israel’s strikes on Iran – falsely described as pre-emptive – are the latest example

Benjamin Netanyahu must be stopped. The Israeli prime minister’s lust for war as a solution to his myriad problems is nothing short of a threat to us all, one that extends far beyond Israel’s neighbors. Netanyahu knows no other way. War is his doctrine. War is his reflex. War is his answer. He believes the power of war will unite Israeli society and will stifle any American criticism of him, necessary since the machinery he needs to make his wars comes mostly from Washington. And, with his aggression against Iran, he seeks to drag the United States further into another endless military quagmire in the region and light the world on fire.

Early Friday morning, Israel launched a series of unprovoked strikes against Iran, targeting Iran’s nuclear energy facilities, its top scientists, its military commanders, and parts of its military and civilian infrastructure. Television images show a residential building in Tehran damaged by what looks like a missile attack. Iran, which has not suffered an assault this severe since its war with Iraq in the 1980s, is reporting at least 70 people killed and 320 injured thus far. Meanwhile, Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza continues out of the public eye, as an internet blackout halted most aid operations.

Moustafa Bayoumi is a Guardian US columnist