Dov Waxman

Well, at the moment, it seems...

Most likely that the election will take place as scheduled at the end of October.

It could all change in the next day or two.

Some of the opposition parties are hoping for an earlier election to take place in September.

But whether it takes place in September or October, there will definitely be an election this year.

And Netanyahu's future is really very much up for grabs right now.

Well, in terms of the latest polling, his party is still likely to receive the Likud party, still likely to receive the largest share of the vote, which would give it the greatest share of seats in the parliament.

But it doesn't look like it's going to be able to form a coalition.

At the same time, the opposition to Netanyahu is also projected not to get a majority of seats in the parliament.

Yeah, as the peace talks are progressing or appear to be progressing with Iran, Netanyahu's really decided to escalate the situation very dramatically in Lebanon.

There's really not been a ceasefire in Lebanon, although that was officially announced and it was tied to the ceasefire between the United States and Iran.

And now Israel is calling for the complete evacuation of southern Lebanon, basically.

In many ways, this, I think, is a response to the prospect of a ceasefire between the United States and Iran.

And this is not something that Netanyahu wanted to happen.

I think many Israelis are disappointed with the best inconclusive results of the war with Iran.

And Netanyahu is therefore under the defensive in that.

He's also under a lot of criticism for failing to deal with the continuing threat that Hezbollah poses to Israeli citizens in northern Israel.

And so really, he's trying to signal to his domestic audience that, you know, whatever Trump decides to do with Iran, over which I should say Netanyahu is basically very little influence at this point.

He's really a spectator to those peace talks between the United States and Iran.

He's determined to show that at least when it comes to