Source: Persuasion
by Sam Kahn
“[A] chill went down my spine when I read the text of Benjamin Netanyahu’s ‘super-Sparta’ speech in mid-September where he claimed that Israel had been driven into a state of isolation on the world stage and would need to adapt by embracing that isolation, by ‘adapting to an economy with autarkic characteristics’ and by becoming a ‘super-Sparta,’ producing its own weapons and economic necessities and generally ignoring the outside world. In particular, Netanyahu singled out Europe, arguing that Muslim migration had led to European countries developing an ‘Islamist agenda’ that was intrinsically anti-Zionist. Another way to put it was that Netanyahu was adopting a ‘Masada Mindset.’ The overwhelming sense of the speech was a belief that Israel, and Jews, have an utterly singular fate.” (10/13/25)