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Netanyahu’s house of cards not collapsing, for now

So far, despite the many scandals, Likud voters are sticking with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but for how long?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem July 3, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Coex/Pool - RTS19JBA
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On July 30, the Knesset will recess for the long summer break and will only reconvene three months later after the Jewish High Holidays. This means that despite the cumulative effect of the severe corruption scandals closing in on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — in some of which he is a suspect and others involving close confidants — the collapse of the government is not imminent, nor is a decision by Netanyahu to call early elections.

Three months are a lifetime in Israeli politics. They could clarify whether there’s any truth to Netanyahu’s denials of wrongdoing and claims that all the scandals are nothing but persecution by the leftist media designed to bring down his right-wing government. The three-month hiatus will also indicate whether the newly elected chairman of the opposition Labor Party, Avi Gabbay, will keep climbing in the polls at the expense of the centrist Yesh Atid headed by Yair Lapid, and whether the diehard Likud supporters still have faith in Netanyahu.

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