If Netanyahu remains in office, he is expected to force a confrontation with the judiciary. For years, the Israeli right has framed the Supreme Court as an elitist and activist institution that undermines the will of the electorate. His supporters say he protects democratic norms and does his best to stay out of the political fray.
In December, Mr. Netanyahu announced that he intended to contain the court’s influence, calling for “updated agreements on the limits of judicial authority”, and promising that his party would approve them as soon as he could. Without the restrictions of his former center coalition partners, Netanyahu can put that plan into action.
The election was conducted against a backdrop of deep political stalemate, with the current cabinet so dysfunctional that it was unable to reach agreement on a state budget for two consecutive years, nor the appointment of key state officials, including the state attorney and senior officials from the ministries of justice and finance.
The vote came after a campaign centered on Netanyahu himself, rather than on more existential or ideological issues such as the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or how to reduce the divide between secular and religious Israelis.
Netanyahu presented himself as the only candidate capable of stopping what many Israelis see as the threats posed by Iran. He also sought to stand out as a statesman who cemented diplomatic relations with four Arab countries and brought a state-of-the-art vaccination program to Israel, helping the country to emerge recently to something close to normal life.
It was a message that resonated with many voters.
“Bibi is the only leader in this country in my eyes,” said Elad Shnezik, a 24-year-old foreign exchange broker who voted for Likud in Tzur Hadassah, a suburb west of Jerusalem. “I never saw anything bad about your actions. Whatever he does, he does for the people. “
Netanyahu’s opponents framed him as a threat to the rule of law and a responsibility unable to govern effectively due to the distraction of his criminal trial. His attempts to position himself as a diplomatic pioneer were stifled in the final days of the campaign, after a planned photo opportunity in Abu Dhabi with the UAE leadership failed, amid the frustration of the Emirates at being used as an object of support by Mr. Netanyahu’s re-election campaign.