As Netanyahu prepares for elections, his foes in Iran and Lebanon could get a vote

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu listens during a news conference with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) 2026-03-21T14:48:28Z JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will soon have to decide when to hold Israel’s next elections. But with war raging on multiple fronts and no end in sight, Israel’s enemies in Iran and Lebanon may help make that decision for him. The stakes could hardly be higher: A victory will add to his legacy as Israel’s longest-ruling leader and fend off, if not quash altogether, calls for a reckoning over the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks that triggered 2 ½ years of war across the region. A defeat risks turning him into the highest-profile political casualty of that attack — the deadliest in Israel’s history — which still casts a long shadow over the country’s psyche and already has led to a string of high-profile resignations and firings. Here is a closer look at what’s at stake for Netanyahu, and how the wars with Iran and Hezbollah could help determine his fate. He faces an October deadline Netanyahu’s government is in the final months of its four-year term and is required to hold elections by the end of October. But Netanyahu has the ability to dissolve the governing coalition before then and call early elections. Israeli governments rarely last their full terms . With this deadline looming, Netanyahu can choose a date when he thinks he and his religious and nationalist partners have the best chance to win. Since elections are scheduled three months ahead of time, he could move now to schedule a vote in late June, just before the summer vacation season, or wait until the fall. A decisive victory in war could bring early elections A quick campaign and decisive victory over Iran could boost Netanyahu’s public standing and give him the confidence to call an early election. He could boast of Israel’s military power and the close ties with U.S. President D

原文链接: AP News