Israel’s prime minister braces for a fight as the parliament dissolves and the countdown to an election begins.

Please God for Istraelis wake up – Peter

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is bracing for a fight to stay in power as he heads toward his first election since a Hamas-led attack shocked the country and plunged it into nearly three years of war.

The country’s longest-serving leader, who has held the prime minister’s officer, on and off, for a total of almost two decades, oversaw one of the most tumultuous periods in its history in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack. Since then, he has faced criticism over his handling of the wars in Gaza, Iran and Lebanon and Israel’s souring relations with the West, but also for a host of deeply divisive domestic issues that have split the electorate.

Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, was dissolved Friday, paving the way for a vote in late October. Recent surveys show Netanyahu’s path to another premiership is narrowing as a patchwork of opposition parties gathers momentum, but political analysts say it is still anybody’s game.

“The arithmetic isn’t there for him to form a coalition,” said Chuck Freilich, a former deputy national security adviser in Israel. “But Netanyahu is nothing if not a political magician, and to write him off would be premature.” So far, Netanyahu’s biggest challenge comes from former army chief and political newcomer Gadi Eisenkot, whose centrist Yashar party is polling roughly level with Netanyahu’s Likud. Both are projected to win just over 20 seats by most mainstream polls, far short of the 61 required to form a government, and would need to cobble together a coalition.

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