US election results fuel Israeli opposition’s push to remove Netanyahu

Israeli opposition politicians said the Democratic Party’s reported landslide victory in the US election strengthened their case for removing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They argued that his declining standing in the United States could harm Israel’s security, democracy and international position.

Former prime minister Yair Lapid said the results ruled out forming a unity government with Netanyahu, while left-wing Democrats alliance leader Yair Golan also called him a security threat. Reports said Donald Trump was pressing Netanyahu and opposition leaders to form a unity government without extremist factions, to advance his Middle East policies. The results included wins by progressive Democrats, among them Abdul El-Sayed, described in the article as the first Muslim elected to the US Senate.