U.S. aid to Israel replaced by political aid to Netanyahu
Netanyahu may have traded U.S. military aid for Trump's political support and action against Iran's nuclear program. But with Israel's defense budget under strain and economic sanctions looming, the timing could hardly be worse
Benjamin Netanyahu may have traded U.S. military aid for political support from Donald Trump and action regarding Iran's nuclear program, according to Haaretz. This transition comes as Israel faces a strained defense budget and looming economic sanctions.
In recent parliamentary efforts, Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot has moved ahead of Netanyahu to secure support for forming Israel's next governing coalition. While the Yashar party won 21 seats in last month's vote—the most of any party not aligned with Netanyahu—neither the prime minister's bloc nor the opposition reached the 61-seat minimum required for a majority.
Eisenkot reported that 67 parliamentarians have endorsed giving him the first chance to form a government, compared to 46 for Netanyahu. The Jerusalem Post reports that President Isaac Herzog is expected to tap Eisenkot on Sunday to begin this process. Eisenkot leads a four-party change bloc holding 48 seats, meaning he must secure support from parties totaling at least 13 seats or aim for a plurality if enough other parties abstain. He has 28 days to negotiate.
Brief written by urgent.news from Haaretz, Jerusalem Post — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
