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The decision to hold early elections in Israel is intended to turn the event into a national referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his last, desperate battle to replace the criminal trial that evidently awaits him with a trial by public opinion.
The Likud plan is to focus the campaign on the investigations, convince the electorate that Netanyahu is being framed and win a stunning electoral victory that should protect Netanyahu from Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit while the latter is deciding the fate of the prime minister.
