May 23, 2012

TIME Crowns Netanyahu “KING BIBI”: The Eyes of the Nations Are Riveted on Israel

Joel RosenbergBy Joel C. Rosenberg
JoelRosenberg.com

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When was the last time the leader of a country with fewer than eight million citizens made the cover of Time magazine?

"Time Magazine devoted its lead story to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is featured on the cover of the renowned publication, under the heading 'King Bibi,'" reports Ynet News. "Underneath the heading, in the article, titled 'Bibi's choice,' author Richard Stengel describes Netanyahu’s unshakable political stature, writing that he 'is poised to become the longest-serving Israeli Prime Minister since David Ben-Gurion, the founding father of Israel. He has no national rival. His approval rating, roughly 50%, is at an all-time high.'"

It is further evidence that the eyes of the nations are indeed riveted on Israel, the epicenter of the momentous events that are shaping our times and shaking our world.

Binyamin Netanyahu

'King Bibi' Graces Cover of TIME Magazine

The Jerusalem Post reports that "Netanyahu discussed his relationship with the presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, disputing the impression left by a recent New York Times piece that the two have a 'warm friendship little known to outsiders' stretching back decades that was 'nurtured over meals in Boston, New York and Jerusalem.... It was at Boston Consulting [Group] that he met Mitt Romney,' Stengel wrote. 'We did not know each other that well,' Bibi says. 'He was the whiz kid. I was just in the back of the room.' In actuality, the article says, Netanyahu has seen Romney only a handful of times over the years and only once this year—when they spoke for 10 minutes during his visit to Washington in March, mainly about Iran. Netanyahu was asked about the cover and Time’s appellation 'King Bibi' during a press conference Thursday in Prague. 'I can tell you one thing,' he quipped, 'Israel will remain a democracy, not become a monarchy.' This was the second time Netanyahu had the weekly news magazine’s cover all to himself, the first time being on June 10, 1996, after he was elected prime minister for the first time. Then the headline was, 'Can He Make Peace?' Last month a small portrait of him appeared in a collage on Time’s cover of the '100 Most Influential People in the World.'"