In the space of just a couple of weeks, it can be said that the Netanyahu government has lost no less than four elections. The own majority for Prime Minister Netanyahu blew the whole world away on October 27. Before that, there were elections in Serbia where the pro-Israeli Aleksandar Vučić lost power, elections in Brazil where the anti-Israel Lula da Silva unexpectedly rose to nine and finally came the US elections, where a large part of the election campaign has been about freeing oneself from Israel.
It's not just a lost election for Donald Trump. It may even be a lost best friend for Israel.
At the last moment before the polls in the United States were to open, President Donald Trump also delivered a cold shower: the United States must withdraw its military support to Israel.
- Bibi Netanyahu and I have concluded an agreement. We give Israel four billion every year, our agreement that was concluded several months ago means that we will stop that, Trump said.
It came as a shock to Israel, although Benjamin Netanyahu didn't pretend it was. He went out and tried to angle the news into something positive: Israel is ready to stand on its own, military legs now.
It is true that Israel's ambition has been to do just that. It is also true that Netanyahu has spoken about this ambition during the year. But that Israel would now be ready for the rug to be pulled out from under its feet - not many observers believe that. According to an article from the Wall Street Journal this week, for example, Israel has upcoming military orders amounting to a sum of over the equivalent of ten billion kroner next year, orders that were supposed to be financed with the American support.
Israel already spends about seven percent of its gross domestic product on defense, which is more than any of the NATO countries. At the same time, the residents are pressured by an ever-increasing cost of ordinary life: food has become more expensive, rents and gasoline as well, in the wake of all of Israel's wars. The education system is in turmoil after the Pisa survey showed that Israeli students have fallen far behind. Many claim that this is about too few resources being put into the schools, when all the money goes to the military.
And now it may have to be even more.
- We want our tax money spent here, for schools here and for health care and infrastructure here. We don't want our money to be sent to apartheid or genocide or war, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed said after it was clear he had won the senatorial election in formerly red Michigan.
The first thing Vice President JD Vance said after the Republicans' loss should have chilled many Israeli ears.
He is far from the only newly elected parliamentarian with a similar attitude, although he is one of those who have been heard the most. Just a few days before the Israeli elections on October 27, news broke that American Brad Lander had been arrested in a West Bank village. He was there with other foreign activists and rabbis to help Palestinians harvest their olives, under threat from aggressive Israeli settlers.
Brad Lander, who wants to see a Palestinian state and has called Israel's war in Gaza a genocide, was elected to the New York House of Representatives on Tuesday. He will work alongside politician Darializa Avila Chevalier, whose supporters love to shout her slogan “children, not bombs!” and that she constantly repeats that Palestinians should have "the right to return home".
Also elected to the Senate were Troy Jackson, who has expressed that it is "unfortunate that Jewish voters do not accuse Israel of genocide" and James Talarico, who has promised to block arms sales to Israel.
Donald Trump, according to Netanyahu the most Israel-friendly US president ever, will still hold the baton. But over on the horizon, an even greater darkness can be sensed for those who favor a strong relationship between the United States and Israel. The first thing Vice President JD Vance said after the Republicans' loss should have chilled many Israeli ears.
Many see him as a possible presidential candidate for 2028. And he blamed the defeat on America's relationship with - Israel.
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