The Washington Post published an editorial on Thursday under the headline "Defeating Netanyahu will be good news for Israel and the United States", beginning with an indication that Benjamin Netanyahu, who was the dominant leader of Israel Over the past decade, he has suffered a severe and possibly politically fatal blow in Tuesday´s election, for entirely justified reasons.
"After Netanyahu launched a despicable campaign against the Arab minority in Israel, his Likud lost hundreds of thousands of votes and a decisive number of parliamentary seats compared to previous elections in April, while Arab parties increased the number of After Netanyahu´s unjust promises to annex large parts of the West Bank, the number one candidate in the vote count was the Central Blue and White Party, which opposes annexation or any other steps that would prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.
"Neither party has given the elections a clear path to win a parliamentary majority, and with the post-election maneuvers, Netanyahu may find a way to stay on as prime minister, but if other parties in Israel stick to their campaign positions, the leader who led Israel has damaged its position in the United States recently to leave office, or at least is prevented from fulfilling its more extreme promises. "
"Avigdor Lieberman, a former student of Netanyahu who now leads a secular right-wing party that controls the swing votes in the Knesset, will be at the center of those post-election maneuvers."
According to the newspaper, Lieberman, who caused the re-election by refusing to join Netanyahu after the elections last April, he will only support a national unity government includes the Likud Party and a blue and white party and exclude the religious and far-right factions with which Netanyahu allied in the past.
The editorial attributed the leader of the "Blue and White" party, former General Benny Gantz, as saying, that his party will not participate in a coalition led by Netanyahu. Regardless of whether these politicians will abide by their pledges, they are likely to resist any effort by Netanyahu to protect himself, by legislation, from a looming indictment on corruption charges, which could be issued within weeks, which could force him to leave office. Even if the Likud does not move to replace it. "
"Any centrist government could also prevent Likud´s attempt to remove Israel´s supreme court authority and limit the repression of human rights groups. US President Donald Trump may regret seeing Netanyahu deposed or constrained. He shared his hatred for the media and other democratic institutions, but Israel´s relations with the United States could improve under a new Israeli prime minister, and Netanyahu, increasingly allied with the Republican Party, has done much to attract American support for Israel. According to opinion polls.
"The Israeli government, which is committed to liberal rules, can begin to repair this damage. The centrist coalition will be more receptive to Israeli-Palestinian peace, which Trump says he wants to mediate, and no breakthrough can be expected anytime soon. But at best, these Israeli elections could put an end to what was a dangerous slide towards right-wing nationalism. "
