🇮🇷🇺🇸 Netanyahu could derail his own election by restarting the Iran war... and Trump's endorsement now ties the midterms to whatever Bibi does next
An American president openly endorsing a sitting Israeli prime minister a week before his vote breaks a long-standing norm, and the reason is simple: Washington has to work with whoever wins.
Eli Clifton of the Quincy Institute, author of Israel's Lobby, says the endorsement ties Trump's political fate to Netanyahu's, and a trailing prime minister with a war to restart has an easy way out of October 27:
"From a practical matter, I don't see how you can have elections if you have air raid sirens going off and people in bomb shelters."
Iran would hit Gulf energy and targets inside Israel, and Eli says Dimona is on the table if Israel goes nuclear, and possibly if Iran's own nuclear sites are hit again.
The timing is before October 27, before November 3, or shortly after... so the next two weeks decide whether this war restarts on Israel's election calendar or America's.
@EliClifton @WeTheBrandon