“ The Bibi Files ,” directed by Alexis Bloom, is an extraordinary and essential documentary. It follows the corruption scandal that has engulfed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu like a toxic cloud. More than that, though, it’s about how the accusations he’s been trying to squirm out from under since 2019, when he was first indicted on charges of bribery and fraud, have changed his identity as a politician.
The film makes a powerful case that Netanyahu’s alliance with the far-right fringe of Israeli politics, which has culminated in his grotesque compulsion to prolong the massacre in Gaza with no end in sight, has been driven by his attempt to evade the charges against him. As long as the war goes on, it becomes his excuse to stay in office. Underneath it all, the documentary argues that Netanyahu is terrified of being toppled and imprisoned, to the point that he’s willing to rip a hole in Israeli society to avoid it.
When national leaders are accused of corruption, the charges tend to be serious. Richard Nixon was brought down by a litany of crimes. Ronald Reagan oversaw the Iran-Contra scandal (a transgression that was, in my view, more serious than Watergate).
Donald Trump has been charged with crimes ranging from election interference to sexual assault. So when you hear about the scandal that has consumed Netanyahu, it may, at first, seem shockingly trivial by comparison. He’s accused of bribery and fraud, the heart of the charges relating to gifts h.