‘What a sick world’ — Benjamin Netanyahu shortlisted for Time’s Person of the Year

After being responsible for the killings of 44,758 Palestinians, attacking healthcare facilities in Gaza 492 times, and invading three sovereign states, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been included in the shortlist as Time’s Person of the Year — a decision that has raised some eyebrows.

According to the publication, it “has named a person, group, or concept that had the biggest impact — for good or for ill — on the world over the previous 12 months” as its Person of the Year.

In the past, Time has bestowed the recognition upon Adolf Hitler (1938), pop icon Taylor Swift (2023), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the “spirit of Ukraine” (2022), tech billionaire Elon Musk (2021), and former US president Barack Obama (2008, 2012).

Needless to say, the honour simply recognises the individual who had the greatest impact and is not based on whether the influence was positive or negative. However, there is something odd about nominating an individual with arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court (ICC), an individual responsible for what Amnesty International has called a genocide in Gaza.

Palestinian journalist and writer Hamza Yousuf highlighted that Netanyahu was “the man who said he will turn Gaza into rubble and did precisely that. What a sick world.”

His presence on the list provides legitimacy to Bibi’s rampage in not only Gaza, but Lebanon, Iran and now Syria. This is further cemented by the way Time has phrased its reasoning for shortlisting him.

“Defying criticism of his war on Hamas, the terrorist organization that killed 1,200 people in an attack against Israel on Oct 7, 2023, Netanyahu continued his military assault on the Gaza Strip this year, even as the death toll there rose to 44,056, according to the Gaza Health Ministry,” the publication detailed. There is an undertone of heroism attributed to Netanyahu, for what is implied to be resilience in the face of Palestinian deaths.

He “continued his military assault” despite Palestinian deaths, however, as countless international bodies have detailed, there is an intent to destroy Palestinians, their homes, their livelihoods, their schools and hospitals.

Amnesty International, in its latest report, “considers that Israel committed these acts with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza, as such. It concludes that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.”

He is undoubtedly, as one X (formerly Twitter) user said, “a genocidal monster”.

While he is hated globally, Netanyahu is also reviled within Israel. Not only does he face three cases of corruption, including allegations of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust — he is a politician after all — 72 per cent of Israelis think Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs to resign over the failures of October 7, according to a Channel 12 poll.

An article by The Atlantic, titled ‘Benjamin Netanyahu Is Israel’s Worst Prime Minister Ever’, highlighted that he brought far-right extremists into the mainstream government, making himself and the government beholden to them; his corruption allegations; and his “terrible security decisions that brought existential danger to the country.

“Above all, his selfishness is without parallel: He has put his own interests ahead of Israel’s at every turn.”

Time’s nomination appears to be a commemoration of that very selfishness. Let’s not forget, despite his relentless assault on Gaza, 63 Israeli hostages remain in Hamas captivity while Bibi continues to launch airstrikes on displacement tents, killing innocent Palestinian civilians for no apparent reason.

Time and again, Time has given a platform to Netanyahu, including their August interview with him where he justified his heinous war crimes.

As Jewish Voice for Peace said, the interview normalised the crimes his government is committing in Gaza and “war criminals shouldn’t be given a platform to minimise and deny genocide.”

This honour — and let there be no mistake, if chosen as Person of the Year, the feat will be considered an honour by Netanyahu loyalists — will only amplify the Zionist message.

A renowned publication naming a war-mongering, right-wing extremist as its Person of the Year will validate his crimes in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran and Syria as a brave fight against terrorists; tens of thousands of civilian deaths be damned.

What makes Netanyahu’s shortlisting significantly worse is the appalling lack of Palestinian candidates. Palestinian journalists, first responders, and people running kitchens despite a severe lack of food in Gaza were all snubbed for the person responsible for killing them.

A shocking 129 Palestinian and six Lebanese journalists were killed by Israel, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, while reporting in the conflict-ridden zones, yet not one was considered worthy to be Time’s Person of the Year.

The irony of it all is that Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza was named in the Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2024 list, while food blogger Hamada Shaqoura was featured on the Time 100 Next 2024 list. And yet, when the time came for Time to nominate its Person of the Year, they seemingly forgot Azaiza, Shaqoura and many other Palestinians who are responsible for raising awareness about the plight of Gaza and the severity of Israel’s assault.

Several X users pointed out that journalist Bisan Owda, who received a News Emmy and Peabody for her documentary about life in Gaza and has been featured on several year-ender lists, should have been shortlisted by Time.

In spite of the Israeli aggression, the bombings, airstrikes, displacement, and rampant hunger, Owda has continued to make content detailing life under the occupation and its assault. Boasting over four million followers on Instagram, the 27-year-old relentlessly raises her voice for the Palestinian cause, covering the extermination campaign ceaselessly, posting video updates every few days and shedding light on stories that would have otherwise gone untold without her voice.

Netizens were also surprised that Gisele Pelicot wasn’t shortlisted after the Frenchwoman waived her right to anonymity and opted for a public trial when her husband was charged with drugging, raping her, and inviting other men to sexually assault her.

The rest of Time’s list was rather abysmal, with only two people of colour nominated from a total of ten shortlisted candidates.

Other individuals shortlisted include Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, US President-elect Donald Trump, US Vice President Kamala Harris, Princess of Wales Catherine Middleton, tech titan Elon Musk, Russian economist Yulia Navalnaya, Chairperson of the US Federal Reserve Jerome Powell, Podcaster Joe Rogan, and Mexico’s first-ever woman President Claudia Sheinbaum.