Is Netanyahu still a psychopath and pathological liar?

If you don’t think that Netanyahu needs medical or psychiatric attention, think again. He has recently asserted:

“Obviously, there are some differences between the Nazi Germany and Islamic Republic of Iran, but both regimes do have two important things in common: one, a ruthless commitment to impose tyranny and terror, and second, a ruthless commitment to murder Jews.”[1]

Is this bold statement actually true? Is there any way that it can be true in any possible world? Well, not if you think evidence is important.

First of all, it must be pointed out that Netanyahu shows numerous signs of a psychopath. One of the definitions of a psychopath is that of a person “who does not care about other people, and who is usually dangerous or violent.”

Robert D. Hare of the University of British Columbia declares that those people can be “charming” but “deadly.” “Their hallmark is a stunning lack of conscience,” he continues. “Their game is self-gratification at the other person’s expense. Many spend time in prison, many do not.”[2]

Hare adds, “The most obvious expressions of psychopath—but by no means the only ones—involve flagrant violation of society’s rules.”[3] Those psychopaths usually use “charm and chameleon-like abilities to cut a wide swath through society” and leave “a wake of ruined lives behind them.”[4] In that sense, psychopaths function “without the restraints of conscience.”[5]

In short, all psychopaths have “a deeply disturbing inability to care about the pain and suffering experienced by others…a complete lack of empathy, the prerequisite of love.”[6]Finally, all psychopaths have an abiding hatred for the truth, and this is a crucial point here.

Kent A. Kiehl of the University of New Mexico argues that psychopaths are pathological liars; they lack empathy, guilt and even remorse. More importantly, they generally do not want to accept the consequences of their actions.[7]

Now ask yourself this question: aren’t those descriptions a classic representation of Benjamin Netanyahu? How can this man seriously say that Iran has “a ruthless commitment to murder Jews”? Even Fox News—Fox News!—had an article saying that the largest Jewish population outside of Israel is Iran.[8] Will Iran eliminate that population as well? When was the last that that population was attacked?

What’s so interesting about all this is that Jewish communities in Iran do not share Netanyahu’s delusional (or diabolical) views.[9] For example, consider Haroun Yashayaei, the chairman of the Tehran Jewish Committee. He said that Benjamin Netanyahu is “narcissistic” and is “following his delusional goals.”[10]

The Jewish community in Iran is growing, and no Jew feels threatened by Iran’s leaders. Ciamak Morsadegh, an elected Iranian parliamentarian who happens to be Jewish, declared last year:

“Benjamin Netanyahu and the anti-Semites need each other: they supply each other with what they need – intolerance and hatred. The fact is, Iran is a place where Jews feel secure and we are happy to be here. We are proud to be Iranian. I know this doesn’t follow the Zionist script, but this is the reality. No one forces the Jews to stay here.

“The Israelis offer money to Jewish people to emigrate to Israel, but we choose to stay. My view is that the actions of Netanyahu and his government, the way they behave towards the Palestinians, cause problems for Jews everywhere. I am not the only one holding these views. Am I not allowed to say it because I am a Jew?”[11]

Morsadegh just brought the entire Zionist Kingdom down in just one statement. And here again and again we see that Netanyahu is either crazy or is following a diabolical script. Avner Cohen has said in the past that Netanyahu is sometimes “crazy.”[12] Former Shin Bet director Yuval Diskin declared that Netanyahu makes “decisions from messianic feelings.”[13]

No matter how you cut it, Netanyahu lacks the moral and political backbone to be a head of a state. If the Jewish community in Iran even approves a nuclear deal,[14] then how can Netanyahu really say that Iran has “a ruthless commitment to murder Jews”? This is one reason why Jewish scholar Norman Finkelstein calls him “a maniac.”

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[1] “Iran is like Nazi Germany in its ‘ruthless commitment to murder Jews’ – Netanyahu,” Russia Today, December 4, 2017.
[2] Robert D. Hare, Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of Psychopaths Among Us (New York: Guilford Press, 1993), 1.
[3] Ibid., 2.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid., 6.
[7] Kent A. Kiehl, The Psychopath Whisperer: The Science of Those Without Conscience (New York: Crown Publishers, 2014).
[8] “In Iran, Mideast’s largest Jewish population outside Israel finds new acceptance by officials,” Fox News, November 26, 2016.
[9] See for example Jason Rezaian, “Iran’s Jewish community reflects a complicated relationship with Israel,” Washington Post, October 2, 2013.
[10] Quoted in Ariel Ben Solomon, “Iran’s Jewish community leader calls Netanyahu ‘narcissistic, delusional,’” Jerusalem Post, July 20, 2015.
[11] “Iran’s Jews on life inside Israel’s ‘enemy state’: ‘We feel secure and happy,’” Independent, March 16, 2016.
[12] Avner Cohen, “Israel’s leadership: Messianic and then some,” Haaretz, May 6, 2012.
[13] Quoted in Daniel Tauber, “Can Netanyahu’s messianism save us?,” Jerusalem Post, July 3, 2012.
[14] See for example Reese Erlich, “Iran’s Jewish community gets behind nuclear deal with U.S.,” USA Today, August 7, 2015.