That's what struck me most talking with Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski.
Naftali Bennett, angling for the premiership, said something that Israelis already feel: for the first time since the founding, "brand Israel" is a net negative in the United States.
He called it a disaster, and blamed the ministers who "day in and day out say really stupid things."
Karen's read on this is sharp. A good politician never tells people what they don't already know, he just mirrors it back so they think he gets it.
Bennett is pinging off an exhausted public: a war economy, lost European contracts, IDF suicide rates climbing, three years of constant mobilization with little security to show for it.
But she cautioned against mistaking this for a peace turn.
Bennett, she says, will kill as many Arabs as Netanyahu would.
The difference is he doesn't personally need war to stay out of a courtroom.
And his real priority? Locking down Israel's access to US decision-making before a younger Congress stops taking the call.
@karen4the6th
