Prime Minister Netanyahu

Netanyahu has everything to play for with Trump as US president

Israeli politics is notoriously ­fractious but there is a reason ­Benjamin Netanyahu has been able to dominate it for a decade.

He never sees an opportunity without taking it.

In this case, the opportunity presented by the election of ­Donald Trump is clear: the only question for Netanyahu must have been how far he could go without provoking a backlash.

This is an administration, ­Netanyahu clearly feels, which is going to end Barack Obama’s nagging­ and support an aggressive pursuit of his political and security goals. While most criticism of ­Israel abroad comes from supporters of greater rights for Palestinians, Netanyahu’s threat at home is from the Right. Politicians such as Naftali Bennett of the Jewish Home party urge more settlements, not fewer, and an end to talk of a Palestinian state.

Read the full article by Richard Spencer of The Times in The Australian.