Translated from Hebrew
Tonight's result in the United States is a political earthquake, and it has very important implications for Israel. Take a few minutes to read this—it's important.
The Democrats achieved an absolute victory tonight, but really, not just in slogan. A victory that even the most optimistic polls for them couldn't have predicted.
They're ending the night with about 250 seats in Congress, the largest majority in the last twenty years, and with a string of inconceivable victories in the Senate: Texas, Kansas, South Carolina—states they haven't won in decades.
Trump suffered a historic defeat, and the last two years of his presidency will be dedicated to relentless investigations of him, his family, his advisors and staff, by Congress committees under Democratic control. He can no longer appoint judges, can't advance legislation, and even his power to promote international agreements is very limited—it's hard to imagine this Congress approving a massive benefits package for Saudi Arabia just for a deal with Israel. At least not as long as Netanyahu is prime minister.
One thing needs to be clear, both in light of the Democrats' meteoric strengthening and the anger and disappointment on the Republican side: Netanyahu's continued tenure is an immediate danger to our special relations with the United States.
Netanyahu is toxic in the eyes of the Democrats; they're furious with him over his humiliating treatment of Obama and Biden, his ingratitude toward American Jewry, his ceaseless meddling in their domestic politics.
The thing is, after tonight, Netanyahu is becoming toxic in the eyes of the Republicans too. They're going to blame him for their loss, as the one who pushed President Trump into a long, expensive, and frustrating round of fighting against Iran. Commentators close to Vice President Vance are already starting to tweet this message: We lost because we listened to Netanyahu. This message will only grow stronger in the coming days.
His continued tenure is a recipe for disaster in the American arena, especially after his disgraceful attempt to overturn the Israeli election results and enlist the Shin Bet chief Zini for this dirty mission. It's important to remember: Israel has no substitute for the United States in the international arena—simply none. And today in the U.S., the Netanyahu brand is a very bad brand that causes dangerous damage to Israel.
A note on the coalition negotiations: Netanyahu is promising his partners to go to new elections and bring 61 seats in them. This is a false promise. Even if he brings 61 seats in repeat elections (I doubt this can happen), Netanyahu won't be able to form a government again with Ben-Gvir, unless he wants to bring paralyzing sanctions on the State of Israel. Smotrich and the Haredi parties need to understand this too. A Ben-Gvir government 2.0 won't rise, unless they want the State of Israel to simply commit suicide.
If Israel wants to start rehabilitating its very bad standing in the U.S., it must part ways with Netanyahu. This won't solve all our problems in the American arena, not even half of them. But it's a first and necessary step, without which things are going to deteriorate to very dangerous places.
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