{"id":207308,"date":"2025-12-28T06:09:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T06:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/207308\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T06:09:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T06:09:09","slug":"why-netanyahus-visit-to-mar-a-lago-is-the-opening-act-to-israeli-prime-ministers-reelection-bid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/207308\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Netanyahu\u2019s visit to Mar-a-Lago is the opening act to Israeli Prime Minister\u2019s reelection bid"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets US President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago this week, the encounter will mark more than a diplomatic reunion.\n <\/p>\n

\n For Netanyahu, it\u2019s the opening act of his 2026 reelection bid, in which the US President is positioned to play a starring role.\n <\/p>\n

\n Israel is officially scheduled to hold elections in October 2026, though that timeline could collapse sooner. Two immediate threats loom over Netanyahu\u2019s coalition: the ultra-Orthodox conscription crisis<\/a> and the March 2026 budget deadline. Either could trigger early elections.\n <\/p>\n

\n Netanyahu\u2019s sixth government \u2014 spanning 18 years across multiple premierships \u2014 has weathered extraordinary turmoil, from the 2023 judicial overhaul that brought hundreds of thousands into the streets<\/a>, through the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack that killed over 1,200 Israelis, to the grinding war that followed, leaving Israel diplomatically isolated and bitterly divided.\n <\/p>\n

\n Yet Netanyahu has endured. His coalition has outlasted every Israeli government of the past six years, giving him time to restore Israel\u2019s regional deterrence while avoiding substantial inquiry into the decision-making preceding its unprecedented security lapse<\/a> on October 7, 2023.\n <\/p>\n

\"Rockets<\/p>\n

\n Recurring opinion polls since October 2023 show his coalition falling short of the 61-seat Knesset majority needed to govern, hovering between 49 and 54 seats. His reelection strategy appears to hinge on a simple calculation: Run as far as possible from the failure of October 7, and count on Trump to help rewrite that narrative at the ballot.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe US president is going to be central \u2013 if not the lead \u2013 in Netanyahu\u2019s reelection strategy,\u201d said Nadav Shtrauchler, a political strategist who previously worked for the prime minister.\n <\/p>\n

\n The alliance has precedents. During Israel\u2019s tumultuous 2019-2020 election cycles, Likud plastered Israeli streets with billboards showing Trump and Netanyahu shaking hands, emblazoned with \u201cNetanyahu, in a different league.\u201d Trump delivered symbolic gestures at critical campaign junctures: recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights in 2019, unveiling an earlier Palestinian peace plan in 2020 and spearheading the Abraham Accords.\n <\/p>\n

\n More recently, Trump championed Netanyahu\u2019s pardon campaign<\/a>, publicly appealing to Israeli President Isaac Herzog during an October address to the Knesset celebrating the Gaza ceasefire. \u201cHey, I have an idea, Mr. President \u2013 why don\u2019t you give him a pardon?\u201d Trump asked, dismissing Netanyahu\u2019s corruption charges as trivial matters of \u201ccigars and champagne.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"US<\/p>\n

\n The episode set off a Likud-aligned campaign that culminated in Netanyahu\u2019s own formal request for clemency<\/a>. In a video accompanying his submission, Netanyahu referenced Trump\u2019s advocacy, asserting it would \u201cenable both leaders to promote vital interests during a time of fleeting opportunity.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Shtrauchler identifies that Knesset address as \u201cde facto the launch of his election campaign, managed by the best campaigner in the world, Donald Trump.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cTrump will probably reappear on Netanyahu\u2019s campaign posters as he has in the past,\u201d Strauchler said. \u201cHis presence will hover over the campaign. But it\u2019s about quality, not quantity.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n And indeed, a well-informed Likud source familiar with the planning says Netanyahu has already discussed hosting Trump in Israel during his campaign, for a second visit since his return to the White House.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Israeli prime minister\u2019s office declined a CNN request for comment.\n <\/p>\n

\n The numbers explain why. A September 2025 Gallup poll <\/a>on Israeli life showed US leadership approval among Israelis at 76%, compared to Israel government leadership\u2019s 40%. The Gaza ceasefire deal<\/a>, credited to Trump\u2019s mediation and determination, only strengthened the US president\u2019s Israeli brand.\n <\/p>\n

\"US<\/p>\n

\n Netanyahu\u2019s pitch, Israeli insiders assess, will focus on diplomatic spectacles: Expanding the Abraham accords<\/a>, normalization with Saudi Arabia, and reshaping the Middle East \u2013 all symbiotic with Trump\u2019s desire for a Nobel Peace Prize, which Jerusalem is actively promoting. Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, a Netanyahu loyalist, recently teamed with US House Speaker Mike Johnson to launch a global parliamentary initiative urging leaders worldwide to support Trump\u2019s nomination for the 2026 award.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe most important thing for Netanyahu\u2019s is his legacy,\u201d Shtrauchler said. \u201cHis message will be that he has achieved much, but his mission isn\u2019t over \u2013 there\u2019s still the Iranian threat, and there are still peace deals to be made.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Yet Trump\u2019s vision of historic Middle East peace has not materialized and still faces significant obstacles. The Gaza ceasefire is fragile, with Trump pressing Israel to accelerate Phase 2 \u2013 but no international force has materialized to govern Gaza, and prospects of Hamas disarming seem remote. Arab countries that were expected to rush into the Abraham Accords remain hesitant, and Saudi normalization is still distant.\n <\/p>\n

\n Divides exist in other regional theaters. On Syria, Trump\u2019s embrace of the Al-Sharaa regime contrasts with Israel\u2019s determination to maintain a buffer zone. On Lebanon, Washington pushes for diplomacy while Jerusalem doubts Beirut\u2019s ability to restrain Hezbollah without another military campaign.\n <\/p>\n

\n Iran remains a critical flashpoint, with Israel closely monitoring Tehran\u2019s nuclear enrichment and growingly concerned with its ballistic missile activities. Both leaders touted the brief \u201c12-day war\u201d as a triumph, but Tehran\u2019s nuclear and missile ambitions have hardly slowed. Israeli officials doubt Trump will rush to authorize another major Israeli military operation against Iran, particularly after the fallout after Israel\u2019s controversial September strike on Hamas leadership in Doha.\n <\/p>\n

\n White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement, \u201cIsrael has had no better friend in its history than President Trump.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe continue to work closely with our ally Israel to successfully implement the President\u2019s 20 Point Plan for Peace and strengthen regional security in the Middle East,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cAs he has repeatedly stated in his first and second terms, the President is committed to ensuring Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

\n The most politically charged arena is still Gaza, where Trump seeks progress on the next phase, while Netanyahu faces constraint from his right-wing coalition resisting any further withdrawals. Israeli sources suggest Netanyahu may seek approval for one more military operation inside Gaza before agreeing to advance the ceasefire \u2013 a final show of force to satisfy his partners before making further concessions.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cNetanyahu is not operating in a vacuum,\u201d notes a former Israeli official. \u201cJared Kushner and other key figures surrounding Trump, as well as Trump\u2019s Gulf allies and friends in Turkey and Qatar, are growing frustrated with Netanyahu\u2019s delays on the Gaza ceasefire plan and are wary of any maneuver that could derail broader regional stability.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Netanyahu\u2019s approach, these sources indicate, likely involves assembling a comprehensive linkage package: progress in Gaza tied to security guarantees against Iran and Lebanon, accommodation of domestic political timelines, and potentially support for his pardon campaign.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cNetanyahu always works the linkages,\u201d a senior Israeli official said. \u201cHe trades movement on one front for compensation on another. It seems likely he will need to hand phase 2 to Trump, so the key question is what he will get in return \u2013 US backing for another strike in Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities, for instance, or support for military action in Lebanon.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Even if historic breakthroughs don\u2019t materialize, Trump offers something equally valuable: attention. Every presidential tweet, visit or statement will dominate headlines, steal the spotlight from Netanyahu\u2019s opponents and give Israelis something else to discuss besides the failure of October 7.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI believe their alliance is very strong and grounded in understanding and shared views,\u201d Shtrauchler said. \u201cThere may be disagreements or clashes, but they see eye to eye and are capable of working them out. Until now, they\u2019ve been coordinated all along. Netanyahu delayed many moves until Trump\u2019s election victory \u2013 and he expects to receive the same support in return.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n In past races, Trump\u2019s interventions helped Netanyahu avoid defeat \u2013 but never secured a decisive victory. Between 2019 and 2021, he failed to form a stable coalition, eventually triggering five elections in four years.\n <\/p>\n

\n Trump remains probably the most powerful card in Netanyahu\u2019s political deck \u2013 but as close history shows, that may not be enough to grant him a winning hand.\n <\/p>\n

\n CNN\u2019s Donald Judd contributed to this report.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets US President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago this week, the encounter will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207309,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-207308","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}