The blame game: How the US midterm shock is shaping Israel’s race for PM
Summary
The article says the Republican Party’s poor showing in the 2026 U.S. midterm elections has weakened Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that he can safeguard ties with the United States. Israeli opposition leaders have used the result to argue against Netanyahu forming the next government, while negotiations continue after Israel’s October 27 parliamentary election.Key Facts
- Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc won 53 seats in Israel’s parliament, eight short of the 61 needed for a majority.
- The opposition bloc led by former army chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot won 48 seats.
- The Arab-led United Arab List and Joint List won 19 seats combined and said they would support Eisenkot for prime minister.
- Eisenkot and other opposition leaders rejected forming a unity government with Netanyahu, according to the article.
- President Isaac Herzog had not yet nominated a politician to form a government at the time of publication.
- Yair Lapid said U.S. voters were particularly opposed to Netanyahu and members of his government, rather than to Israel itself.
- Avigdor Lieberman claimed that Trump’s support for Netanyahu came at the cost of continued U.S. military aid; the article reports that Trump had announced an end to the aid.
- The article links debate over the U.S. midterm result to the joint U.S.-Israeli war against Iran and to U.S. relations with Israel.
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