Will Netanyahu lose the election?

When someone has been around for so long, it's difficult to imagine them not being in charge anymore. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister for nearly twenty years, has been the voice and face of Israel through a multitude of wars. He is Mr Security, even though he blundered mightily when Hamas raiders smashed their way across the Gaza border into northern Israel on October 7, 2023, and committed atrocities which cast doubt on the country's ability to defend itself. For that reason, Netanyahu should take the blame and should be ousted as prime minister. But the chances are he will hang on because even anti-Netanyahu voters will worry about giving the immense responsibility of protecting Israel from its many enemies to anyone else. Netanyahu also has the personal backing of Donald Trump which just might be a deciding factor. Whoever wins the most seats in the Knesset, it will still have to be a coalition, because in Israel's history, no leader has won outright, winning at least 61 of the 120 seats. So it will be a coalition, and even if Netanyahu loses out to a rival, such as Gadi Eisenkot, the former army chief of staff, he could still manage to form a coalition which keeps him in power. It's going to be close and we may not know the final result for some time. Whoever wins power, it won't help the Palestinians. Their future will remain unresolved whether Netanyahu wins or not.