Der nächste globale Trump-Verbündete, der fällt? Zuerst verlor das Weiße Haus Orbán. Netanjahu könnte der nächste sein.

Earlier this year, Yonatan Levi left his home country of Israel to observe the Hungarian election. Levi, a scholar at the center-left think tank Molad, had traveled with a group of parliamentarians and activists to study how opposition leader Péter Magyar was running a winning campaign against an authoritarian prime minister.

This was, in their view, a vital mission ahead of their own elections this year. Levi and his colleagues see, in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a kindred spirit to Hungary’s defeated autocrat. Israel “is not the Middle East’s Hungary yet,” Levi says. But, he added, “it’s getting closer and closer.”

Indeed, opposition parties are bullish on taking down Netanyahu — and defending democracy is central to their campaign.

Americans know, and [generally dislike](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/04/07/negative-views-of-israel-netanyahu-continue-to-rise-among-americans-especially-young-people/), Netanyahu based on his foreign policy: the brutality in Gaza or more recent lobbying for the ruinous Iran war. But inside Israel, Netanyahu’s opponents are most animated by domestic issues: specifically, a fear that his ultimate aim is to demolish Israel’s remaining democratic institutions and stay in power indefinitely.

This is a reasonable concern. Netanyahu’s government has put cronies in charge of Israel’s [security](https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/14/middleeast/roman-gofman-mossad-israel-intl) %5Bservices%5D(https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2026-04-15/ty-article-opinion/.premium/david-zini-a-ticking-time-bomb-inside-israels-internal-security-agency/0000019d-9230-d290-afbf-b27453e20000), [demonized the Arab minority](https://www.adalah.org/en/content/view/10320), [persecuted](https://www.972mag.com/anti-iran-war-protests-police-violence/) left-wing %5Bactivists%5D(https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/2/27/21075868/israeli-democracy-war-netanyahu), and pushed legislation that would put the [judiciary under his control](https://www.vox.com/world-politics/23864407/israel-judicial-overhaul-supreme-court-hearing-netanyahu). He is currently on trial for corruption — with the most serious charges stemming from a scheme to [trade regulatory favors for favorable news coverage](https://israelpolicyforum.org/the-status-of-netanyahus-conflict-of-interest-arrangement-amid-the-judicial-overhaul/) from a major Israeli outlet. President Donald Trump is actively pushing Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who holds a more ceremonial position, to [grant him a pardon](https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-herzog-is-weak-and-pathetic-for-not-granting-netanyahu-a-pardon/).

Netanyahu’s tactics come directly from the playbook Viktor Orbán used to hold power in Hungary for nearly 20 years — and the two leaders [know each other well](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hnsgrassegger/george-soros-conspiracy-finkelstein-birnbaum-orban-netanyahu). So much like in the United States, Orbán’s Hungary has become a major part of Israeli public discourse: a boogeyman for the center-left and an aspirational model for the Netanyahu-aligned right.

“I’ve never seen a foreign election being covered so closely [in the Israeli press] — except for US elections,” Levi says.

At present, Israelis expect a similar outcome. Polls [consistently show](https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-politics/2026-03-13/ty-article/.premium/epic-anticlimax-why-israelis-arent-giving-netanyahu-an-iran-bump-in-the-polls/0000019c-e6ad-d02e-abdf-efafe1070000) that Netanyahu, who has been prime minister for all but one year since 2009, would lose his governing majority if elections were held now — and they’re required to take place no later than October. If these trends hold, then there is a real chance that he will be the next leader in the Trump-aligned far-right international to fall.

Oh no one of the worst ppl in modern history will be gone…

Netanyahu would start ww3 to avoid losing power.

Looks like Trump’s buddy list is shrinking faster than my willpower at a dessert buffet!

He may well loose the next election but even if that is the case, it’s naive to think that his replacement will be some big improvement. Israeli society is very right wing and even the centrist opposition support genocide, expansionist policies and illegal West Bank settlements.

The issue is Zionism, not Netanyahu. He’s just a symptom.

…and the world will rejoice, including the Israeli people

One can only hope.

Please

Trump will just get a replacement ally. The next Israeli government won’t be much different than the current. Left wing Israeli politicians were decimated by the Second Intifada and have never recovered. Oct 7 certainly didn’t do anything to revive them.

Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy… /s

Couldn’t happen quick enough… no /s

There is a good analogy to be made between Peter Magyar and Naftali Bennett, the most likely alternative to Netanyahu. Magyar and Bennett both market themselves as conservatives who respect liberal democratic institutions and thereby attract coalitional support from people to their left. They also both previously worked for the illiberal PMs they want to replace.

However, if the current polls prove accurate, the most likely outcome of the Israeli election this fall is deadlock. No one will be able to form a majority government, so Netanyahu would continue as caretaker PM until a redo election can be held six months later or thereabouts. The same thing happened in 2019.

Netanyahu has lost power multiple times and kept returning. Don’t assume you’re done with him if he loses.

Not just him, the entire country is hateful and sick

Bye bye, Bibi.

I think Netanyahu’s position is much more entrenched than Trump’s, so Trump is more likely to fall first.

From your mouth to God’s ears (and I’m an atheist!)

I’ve been reading „this is the end of Bibi“ articles for longer than I’ve been reading them about Trump. Hell I think Bill Clinton was in office when they started.