Gaza rockets embarrass Netanyahu, Hamas leadership

Israeli media dealt extensively this week with the great embarrassment Hamas caused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when sirens warning of incoming rockets pierced the air as he addressed a packed election rally Sept. 10 in the city of Ashdod. His bodyguards immediately hustled him off the stage and took him to a sheltered area, even as “Mr. Security” Netanyahu asked, in reference to the audience cheering him, “And where are they supposed to go?” Several minutes later he returned to the stage and resumed his speech. He later wrote on Facebook: “Tremendous support in Ashdod. Vote Likud to prevent a government of the left and the Arabs!” The entire embarrassing incident was aired live on his Facebook page, but was subsequently deleted.

After the event, Netanyahu convened the heads of the nation’s security agencies at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, and his office distributed a  photo of the meeting. After all, an unprovoked rocket attack on Ashdod for no discernible reason during a Netanyahu election rally in town merits photographic evidence proving to the public that all is well — a type of response to the seeming victory photo that Hamas engineered. The segment showing Netanyahu being whisked off stage was aired repeatedly on Hamas television channels, with the presenters grinning widely.