JERUSALEM ¨C Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is racing to pass a state budget and stave off early elections he would likely lose, with the war in Iran so far doing little to improve his standing in the polls.
In the war¡¯s first days, Netanyahu¡¯s camp saw a chance for his right-wing coalition to capitalize on the opening salvo that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by holding elections ahead of an expected October date, a source familiar with Netanyahu¡¯s political strategy said.
One way to force snap elections would be to let parliament fail ?to pass the budget by March 31, which under Israeli law would trigger a vote within 90 days. As U.S.-Israeli strikes killed a host of top Iranian figures, ?some of ?Netanyahu¡¯s confidants publicly floated the idea of a June vote.
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