Lazar Berman
Times of Israel, Nov. 7, 2024
“Just like the rest of the world, they want to be very careful and circumspect when it comes to Trump.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saw his best-case scenario become a reality Tuesday night: Donald Trump won a resounding victory and will be back in the White House in January. Hours before results started pouring in across the Atlantic, Netanyahu took a drastic step to shore up control over his own coalition. With the world focused on the US ballot, Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, replacing him with loyalist Israel Katz.
Now the prime minister seems to finally have what he wants.
He has a cabinet made up of ministers who won’t publicly stand up to him. In a few short weeks, he will be working with a White House that will keep disagreements quiet and won’t make a fuss about humanitarian matters in the war against the Iranian axis.
And after the recent campaign against Hezbollah and last month’s airstrikes on Iran, Netanyahu faces an Islamic Republic that is more vulnerable to Israeli attacks than it has been for decades.
Yet the persistent challenges Netanyahu has faced since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack remain, and Trump’s second presidency will offer new potential pitfalls for Israel’s leader.
Biden’s last hurrah
Before all that, Joe Biden still has two months left in office. He was already limping when he dropped out of the race in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris, but now he is officially in his lame-duck period. At the same time, Biden is now freed of constraints. He doesn’t have to worry about any political future, and he doesn’t have to think about the effect his statements and policies would have on Harris’s campaign. … [To read the full article, click here]