This time, Netanyahu’s political demise may be real

Commentators have declared Benjamin Netanyahu to be finished many times over the past two decades and yet he has always made a comeback. This time, the calculus could be different. In the space of a week, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister suffered two electoral blows. At home, his bloc won 53 seats in the 120-seat Knesset and lost its majority, while in the US, the Republican Party he bet on suffered a sweeping midterm defeat.

With no realistic path to forming a government, Netanyahu’s chances of preventing his opponent, former general Gadi Eisenkot, from becoming the next prime minister appear slim. His best bet would be to survive and bide his time, hoping Eisenkot’s partners’ internal squabbling will make any government short-lived and lead to early elections next spring.