Netanyahu raises threat of nuclear attack on Israel ahead of election
Updated . First published at
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has posted an image depicting a nuclear attack on Tel Aviv ahead of the country’s pivotal elections on Tuesday.
The Doomsday-like graphic of a mushroom cloud, which local media reports as AI generated, was accompanied by text written by conservative commentator Yuval Blumberg.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to residents and supporters during a campaign stop in Tel Aviv. Erik Marmor
He wrote in Hebrew text that only a leader who had a strong relationship with US President Donald Trump could protect Israel from Iranian nuclear attacks.
“The State of Israel is in real and tangible existential danger. If the Iranians acquire nuclear weapons, nothing will ever be the same again ... Future generations will not forgive us if we miss the historic window of opportunity that allows us to try and complete the most critical mission facing our generation.”
The comments raises the prospect Israel and the US will soon resume attacks on the Iranian regime when Tuesday’s poll and the American midterm elections in November finish.
Meanwhile, Israelis are deciding whether Netanyahu, the country’s longest serving PM, is the man to continue to leading them through these turbulent times.
For Israel’s 7.3 million eligible voters, this is the first chance to pass judgment on the leadership that presided over October 7 failures, to decide who should lead the country in conflict.
An AI-generated image of a nuclear strike on Tel Aviv, posted on the X account of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on October 25. Benjamin Netanyahu
One expert told nine.com.au the poll was shaping as one of the most important for Israel since it was founded in 1948.
“This election is not simply about who governs Israel next,” said Eitan Tzelgov, from the University of East Anglia in the UK.
“It is a critical juncture: a test of the strength of Israel’s democratic institutions and of how voters respond to debates about democracy, accountability, political leadership, and the future direction of the state.”
He said the messaging from political candidates would sway voters at the ballot box.
“The camp that controls the narrative will have a clear advantage. And most important will be the ability of each side to mobilise its voters, as the result is expected to be tight.”
Netanyahu’s incumbent government depended on far-right and ultra-Orthodox partners, who pushed Israel in a more nationalist and religious direction than ever before.
He became the first sitting Israeli prime minister to stand trial on corruption charges as his government pursued a judicial overhaul aimed at weakening the supreme court and other checks on power.
The Middle East war looms large over the Israeli election. Getty Images
Who is likely to win?
Polls suggest neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor the opposition is likely to win a majority alone, meaning the vote may launch Israel’s next political crisis rather than settle it.
Most polls put Netanyahu’s bloc, made up of his Likud party, and far right and ultra-orthodox parties, at 49 to 55 seats, short of the 61-seat majority.
Yashar, a new centrist party led by Gadi Eisenkot, a former general, has emerged as Netanyahu’s challenger. But the rest of the opposition, including parties led by former prime minister Naftali Bennett and ex defence minister Avigdor Liberman is splintered.
With no side holding a clear majority, a deadlock, a minority government, a unity government – or another election – are all plausible outcomes.
- With CNN
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