Elections remove obstacle to renewed war with Iran
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Mail & Guardian
The US and Israeli elections have removed deadlines that had helped delay a renewed confrontation with Iran, according to Mail & Guardian. The newspaper says the results have also weakened Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, complicating their diplomatic and military calculations in the coming weeks.
The end of the US midterm elections and the Israeli election of 27 October 2026 removes the two main electoral obstacles that had constrained Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, and Donald Trump, president of the United States, in their decisions over a possible resumption of the war with Iran, Mail & Guardian says. According to CNN, cited by Israel Hayom, Netanyahu wanted new strikes in October and had tried to persuade Trump to act before the elections.
Netanyahu's bloc won 53 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, while Gadi Eisenkot was expected to secure at least 56 recommendations during consultations opened by Israeli President Isaac Herzog. If Herzog gives him the mandate, Eisenkot will have 42 days to form a coalition and Netanyahu will remain interim prime minister during this period, Mail & Guardian reports.
Legal experts from the Israel Democracy Institute and the Tachlith Institute cited by Asharq Al-Awsat say an interim prime minister legally retains the power to take the country to war. Parliamentary oversight is also weaker before the committees of the new Knesset are constituted, according to the experts.
