ByAMOTZ ASA-EL

JULY 10, 2026 13:48

Talk about poetic justice.

Just days after pressuring soccer officials to overturn a red card against a Team USA player, the US president watched his national squad lose badly to Belgium by a score of 4-1.

The episode captured a familiar mix of misjudgment, oddity, controversy, and comedy.

The misjudgment involved soccer regulations. The president questioned the fairness of the red-card rule after learning about it. Such a reaction is understandable on its own. Many newcomers to the sport feel the same way upon first seeing certain plays. Yet the president went further by contacting FIFA leadership to demand the penalty be lifted.

That request was the oddity. The controversy arose when FIFA complied, reinforcing concerns about the organization's integrity.

Still, this episode remained a minor sideshow compared with events unfolding in Israel at the same time.

Netanyahu's political formula no longer works

Two developments in Israel pointed to poetic justice of a deeper kind. They indicated that Benjamin Netanyahu's long-standing political approach has lost its effectiveness and that the social foundations supporting it are beginning to fracture.

Gadi Eisenkot and Yuli Edelstein come from contrasting backgrounds. One is a former military commander, the other a longtime legislator. One grew up in Eilat, the other in Moscow. One served as an infantry officer, the other endured imprisonment in Siberia.

Their present circumstances differ as well. One has emerged as a rising political force, while the other recently declared his exit from Likud and appears to be concluding his public career.

Together their paths illustrate the close of Netanyahu's era in power.

Edelstein, who held posts including health minister and Knesset speaker, objected to legislation that would allow draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox communities, a measure Netanyahu had pledged to advance.

His stance captured the frustration of many Orthodox voters on the right who have shouldered heavy military burdens since late 2023, resulting in lost lives and prolonged absences from work and family.

Eisenkot, meanwhile, came to symbolize the heaviest cost of the conflict: personal loss.

After the death of his son along with two nephews in Gaza, he embodied the sacrifices made by families who serve, in contrast to efforts by some leaders to enshrine exemptions into law.

These shifts also reveal that Netanyahu's declining support stems from more than the immediate effects of war.

Edelstein and Eisenkot are representatives of two populations disconnected from Netanyahu

The two men stand for communities that once formed core pillars of Netanyahu's electoral support: immigrants from Morocco and other North African countries, along with those from the former Soviet Union.

The latter group encompasses arrivals over the past four decades from Russia and neighboring states. The former covers the large waves of the 1950s and 1960s, mainly from Morocco but also from additional countries in the region.

Both groups generally backed Netanyahu's security stance. The Russian-speaking voters also favored his economic approach, while the North African voters responded to his nods toward tradition. Religious Zionists, often from established Ashkenazi families, served as another key element in his broad coalition.

This arrangement held until the recent series of conflicts. Now many Russian-speaking voters share Edelstein's sense that Netanyahu took their loyalty for granted, sending them to repeated wars while shielding others from service and failing to address issues such as civil marriage or streamlined conversion processes.

A similar sentiment has surfaced among voters of North African descent.

When they look at Eisenkot they see a self-made success from modest origins. His personal tragedy resonates with them, and his quiet demeanor stands in sharp contrast to the prime minister's style, prompting growing numbers to shift their support.

Attempts to question Eisenkot's language skills have only highlighted the concern. He is in fact a fluent English speaker and a graduate of a US military college. Such attacks reveal difficulty in handling a figure from that community who rejects the subordinate role sometimes assigned to others.

Continued emphasis on parties that discourage military service and broader education for non-Ashkenazi citizens has led many in these communities to question the long-term results of their support.

The pattern is clear: the same approach was applied to both groups. They were used to sustain a political career whose costs have mounted. It is still possible for them to step away and deliver the accountability the situation requires.