The move was widely welcomed but triggered criticism for boosting Netanyahu ahead of the vote
By Loveday Morris Loveday Morris Jerusalem bureau chief covering the Middle East Email Bio Follow March 22 at 11:50 AM JERUSALEM — President Trump’s statement that the United States should recognize the Golan Heights as part of Israel was widely welcomed by Israelis on Friday but also triggered criticism that he was interfering in a close election campaign to help Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
But the decision adds to the list of wins that Netanyahu has been touting, including U.S. steps to scrap its participation in the nuclear deal with Iran and the transfer of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem which it recognized as Israel’s capital. “You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to speculate that given the extremely intimate level of coordination between Trump and Netanyahu’s teams, the timing is no coincidence,” Israeli journalist Anshel Pfeffer wrote in a front-page article in the Haaretz newspaper entitled “Why Trump dropped his bombshell now.”
The latest polls show the Likud Party and Blue and White Party battling it out for first place in the elections. Israel Hayom newspaper on Friday projected Blue and White would win 30 seats in the 120-seat parliament, compared with 26 for Likud. The ultimate test will be which leader is able to assemble a governing coalition from various parties.
The United States has been accused of putting its thumb on the scale in previous U.S. elections, including in 1996 by backing Ehud Barak, whose bid for reelection still failed. However, Trump and his policies have resonated with Israelis.
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