Bye bye Bibi...

End of an era: People celebrating at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv after Israel’s parliament voted in a new coalition government, ending Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12-year hold on power. — Reuters

AMONG the various heads of state and government who have seemed like permanent fixtures on the international political landscape in the past decade or so, no one’s perch has looked as precarious as that of Benjamin Netanyahu. There’s a degree of irony in the fact that Israel’s longest-serving prime minister apparently ran out of steam midway through the presidential term of one of the most fervent White House admirers he could conceivably have attracted.

It’s all relative, of course. Ever since its inception, Israel has never not had an ally in the White House, and occasional tensions have scarcely dampened US enthusiasm for – let alone hindered its munificence towards – what was identified early on as an invaluable satellite in a region once deemed broadly hostile to US interests.