Trump helped Netanyahu with election, but now Bibi's on his own

The Israeli election was a no-confidence vote in the rule of law and the judicial system. Half of Israel’s citizens (and a decisive majority of Jewish voters) gave their votes to parties that stood behind a man accused of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. In this election, which took place after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted and on the eve of his trial set for March 17, Netanyahu's Likud received a whopping 36 mandates after 90% of the votes were counted.

Netanyahu should send the White House flowers. The serial temporary prime minister owes his achievement to no one more than US President Donald Trump. The Jan. 28 ceremony unveiling Trump's “deal of the century” was the Likud's most important campaign event in 2020.