Israelis Vote as Netanyahu Fights to Keep Power; Iran Policy and US Ties in Focus

Israelis vote Tuesday in the country's first general election since the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fighting to keep power while facing corruption charges. His main challenger, former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, opposes Palestinian statehood and has pledged to destroy Hamas's military wing. US President Donald Trump strongly endorsed Netanyahu and said in an online post that with any other leader, the US would have to handle the Iran conflict itself, which he is not inclined to do. The Financial Times reported that Israel's military planned new strikes on Iranian nuclear, government and energy sites around October 10, but Trump opposed escalation before the US midterms on November 3. Elisa Ewers of the Council on Foreign Relations said any new government would be constrained from major changes on Palestinian issues and would inherit hard choices on Iran. The vote is one of four major elections in 10 days, after Serbian student-led candidates defeated Aleksandar Vučić and Brazilians rejected Flávio Bolsonaro's campaign on Sunday.

The left-leaning Guardian US treats the Israeli vote as part of a worldwide pattern of voters rejecting authoritarianism. It pairs Netanyahu's "fight of his political life" and his corruption charges with the Serbian and Brazilian results, and presents a conversation with correspondent Julian Borger that calls the US midterms the biggest test for global democracy. Right-leaning outlets had not reported this story at the time of writing, while left-leaning and independent outlets had. Independent coverage takes different angles: Deutsche Welle focuses on whether the election will change Israel's Iran approach, citing Trump's endorsement and the reported rift over new strikes. Semafor leads with Ewers's view that the result would change little for Washington.