Donald Trump just threw Benjamin Netanyahu under the bus
Even with some of the votes still being counted, the Israeli election is shaping up such that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has exceedingly little chance of being able to form the kind of coalition with the opposition parties that would allow him to remain in power. That’s a real problem for Netanyahu, because he’s facing indictment, and he’s headed to prison if he’s ousted. Now he has another problem.
With Benjamin Netanyahu‘s chances of remaining in power shrinking by the hour, he’s canceled his upcoming UN trip, where he was supposed to meet with his close personal ally Donald Trump. Netanyahu can’t realistically make this trip, considering the circumstances of the election. It serves to demonstrate just how screwed Netanyahu is.
Trump is in a position where he could publicly throw his support behind his friend Netanyahu, in a last ditch effort at convincing the opposition parties in Israel that they need to keep Netanyahu nominally in power in order to keep Trump happy. But Trump can apparently see that his ally Netanyahu is a likely goner, so he’s doing what he always does in these situations: instead of sticking his own neck out, he’s sticking out his foot to trip his own loyal ally and send him hurtling under the bus.
Donald Trump told reporters today that “our relations are with Israel.” So much for Benjamin Netanyahu. We’re now seeing pundit buzz that Netanyahu will somehow just magically stay in office once the opposition parties announce they’re moving toward without him. But nothing works that way. Once he’s gone, Netanyahu will end up in prison. Trump awaits a remarkably similar fate.
