The Bibi Files review: Five-star film digs into 'the making of' Benjamin Netanyahu
Israel's Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, Monday Jan. 12, 2009.
★★★★★
Cigars, champagne, jewellery: these are the gifts that Benjamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu is alleged to have received as The Bibi Files (15A) begins courtesy of leaked video files from a 2016 police investigation into the Israeli prime minister’s breach of trust.
On the face of it, the allegations, which Netanyahu denounces as ‘preposterous and insane’, amount to small beer. The core issue, however, according to investigative reporter Raviv Drucker – who also serves as a producer – is that ‘the prime minister does not respect the law.’
Drucker then lays out the film’s thesis, which is that Netanyahu’s fear of going to prison lies behind his subsequent embrace of Israel’s far-right fringe and his attempt to reform the judicial system in the face of massive public protests. Worse, however, is to come.
“After the catastrophe of October 7,” says Drucker, “the war became another instrument to stay in power.”
The slaughter in Gaza, and the war in Lebanon, cast a very dark shadow across Alexis Bloom’s film, which provides historical context for Netanyahu’s rise through Israel’s political ranks by identifying the death of his older brother Yoni at Entebbe in 1976 while rescuing Israeli hostages as ‘the making of Bibi’, after which Netanyahu emerged as a strong, articulate defender of Israel’s borders against terrorism.
But that public persona was at odds with a turbulent private life: a host of contributors, including ex-employees, his former media advisor, political commentators, billionaire friends, and even his life-long friend, testify to arrogance and entitlement on the part of Netanyahu and his wife Sara, who dismiss the litany of allegations as lies and just one element of a witch-hunt being prosecuted by a left-leaning media.
The investigation into the alleged corruption is ongoing as the film concludes, leaving it to the viewer to decide if Netanyahu is the hapless victim of a plot perpetrated by the media, disgruntled former associates and the Israeli police, or a master of realpolitik who will ensure his survival at any cost.
- In cinemas and on demand Friday
