In Israel, vigil for US midterm elections begins. Why?

At breakfast this morning in Israel, all English-language news outlets had something to say about today's US midterm elections. Some stories were simply factual. They described the elections. They described the anger Democrats and Leftists (one-and-the-same?) harbored towards US President Donald Trump.

Other stories worried about the impact a Democrat victory would have on US-Israel relations. We've heard that many Democrats in America appear to be anti-Israel. Would a Democrat victory hurt us?

The main concern in America for these elections is that Democrats can become a majority in the US House of Representatives. Such a situation will absolutely affect how Republican members of Congress plan their future political strategy. It could certainly impact Trump's ability to govern. It could impact his political agenda. But how does a Democrat-controlled House impact US relations with Israel? 

The US House of Representatives has little to do with everyday US-Israel business. In fact, most of the time, the House has practically no impact at all on US-Israel relations.

Israel's Left is interested in these US elections, but for a different reason. That is, Israel's Left hasn't figured out how to dislodge Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from office. The Left wants him gone. But the man, at least until today, has been 'Mr. Teflon man': no Left-inspired or media-driven scandal sticks to him.

Therefore, the Left watches a US election where President Trump's 'enemies' have used an attack strategy that has been especially personal, dirty, nasty and vicious. Israel's Left wants to know if such a relentless campaign of personal attack against a national leader can really change voter attitudes. 

If Democrats win in the US, Israel's Left will wonder if stoking the fires of such an intense personal attack will win here, too. If Democrats lose, Israel's Left would have to wonder if a similar vicious anti-Netanyahu campaign in upcoming 2019 national Israeli elections would lose, too.  

Of course, this is speculation. But such speculation isn't difficult to do. Israel's Left is pretty transparent in its interest in the Democrat 'take-no-prisoners' political attack against Trump. We saw that transparency at a recent Rabin Tel Aviv rally. At that rally on November 3, 2018, Israeli Leftists used the same exact words against Netanyahu which America's Left uses against Trump (see yesterday's post below).

But other than this specific Leftist interest, why would Israelis be riveted by American elections? What's the attraction?

My guess is, the aggressiveness of the attack draws us to those elections. You know how it is: a street fight always draws a crowd. 

Starting tomorrow morning (Wednesday, November 7, 2018), early political autopsies on the US elections will hit the news. From those analyses, we will surely ask our own questions:

Will US-Israel relations really be altered by a Democrat victory (if that's what happens)? Will Israel now face increasing pressure from the US because, suddenly, Trump's hands are tied by those newly-elected and angry Democrats in Congress? Will these elections really, truly change anything? Or, will little change--except the noise level of political discourse?

G-d knows. The rest of us will have to wait for the dust to settle--and for the Palestinian Authority to try to take advantage of any Democrat win.