Netanyahu's party lags in polls - Trump expressed full support for him
US President Donald Trump expressed his "full and unreserved" support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of the parliamentary elections in Israel. Meanwhile, polls show Netanyahu's Likud party trailing behind the Yashar party led by Gadi Eisenkot.
Netanyahu's party trails in polls, while Trump has expressed full support for him
Elections to the Israeli parliament — the Knesset — are scheduled for October 27.
The US president linked his support for Netanyahu to cooperation on the Iran issue. According to him, if another leader comes to power in Israel, Washington will be forced to confront Iran independently. Trump emphasized that he has no intention of choosing such a path.
He also claimed that military and financial strikes are being dealt to the Iranian regime together with the Netanyahu government. He stated that the pressure will continue if Tehran does not change its policy.
According to survey results published by The Jerusalem Post, "Likud" may win 19 seats in the election, while the "Yashar" party of former Israeli army chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot could secure 22 seats. Nevertheless, the overall potential of the pro-government and opposition blocs remains close to each other.
To form a majority in the Knesset, at least 61 out of 120 seats must be combined. Therefore, an individual party taking first place does not automatically guarantee that it will form the government.
According to the AP agency, one of the likely scenarios is an attempt by the opposition to unite left, centrist, and right-wing parties into a single coalition. The second option is for Netanyahu's party to continue its alliance with far-right political forces.
In such a situation, Arab parties could play an important role. The Arab population, whose interests they represent, constitutes approximately 20 percent of the citizens with voting rights in the country. Polls project 13–15 seats for Arab parties.
However, disagreements between political forces could make coalition building difficult. According to AP's assessment, if neither side can form a parliamentary majority, there is a possibility that the political crisis in Israel will drag on and another election will be held.