Election Results: The Night They Tore Old Israel Down – and Seven More Comments on Netanyahu’s Stunning Triumph

1. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s scored a stunning victory in Monday’s elections, the sweetest and potentially most momentous in his long and illustrious career. His triumph, despite the albatross of three criminal indictments hanging around his neck, is undeniably stupendous. He has fully justified his reputation as the all-time master magician, if not supreme sorcerer, of Israeli politics.

2. Netanyahu ran the most ruthless, sleazy, deceitful and dishonest election campaign in Israeli history, which was also the most precise and lethal. He assassinated his rival Benny Gantz’s character with doctored videos, sexual innuendos, malicious rumors and deliberate distortions. His success will whitewash his dirty campaign, which will be scrutinized, dissected and admired throughout the populist, nationalist world.

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– Haaretz Weekly Ep. 66

Bibi went gunning for his only real rivalHaaretz Weekly Ep. 66

If Democrats want a sneak preview into how U.S. President Donald Trump can win the November 2020 elections, no matter who is the final choice as their candidate, they should watch and learn.

And if Trump calls in his debts, Netanyahu will try to reciprocate for what many believe was the turning point of his entire campaign – the presentation of Trump’s “deal of the century,” which, among other things, credited Netanyahu with what many Israelis regard as the country’s greatest diplomatic achievement ever. It’s a hard act to follow, even for Netanyahu.

UPDATE: Israel election results: Netanyahu hails 'great victory' as exit polls show him surging past Gantz

Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event on January 03, 2020 in Miami, Florida. JIM WATSON / AFP

3. Having said that, Kahol Lavan’s Benny Gantz was a flawed candidate who is unlikely to retain his position as leader of the opposition to Netanyahu, unless he joins the new government, which still seems unlikely. Gantz, admittedly, was a novice at politics when he entered the race in January 2019, but he’s also been a slow learner. He finally found his bearings in the last week of the campaign, responding to Netanyahu’s libels forcefully and retaliating in kind, but by then it was too little, too late: The die was cast.

And as accurate and incisive as the Likud campaign was, Kahol Lavan’s endeavors were pitifully uninspired and ineffective. In terms of electioneering, the matchup between the two contenders for the throne was more or less the Terminator vs. Inspector Clouseau.