Israel's election ended in deadlock, with neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his challenger Gadi Eisenkot securing the 61 seats needed to govern—and regardless of who eventually forms a government, billions in American tax dollars will keep flowing without audit or debate.
Netanyahu's governing coalition is projected to hold 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, short of the majority threshold, according to provisional figures from Israel's Central Elections Committee reported by Breitbart. Likud emerged as the largest single party with 26 seats. Eisenkot's Yashar party captured 21. The predominantly Arab parties nearly doubled their representation to 19 seats, driven by what the New Yorker described as turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel reaching as high as 80 percent—mobilized in part by outrage at National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who openly regards them as enemies and had floated taking over the defense ministry.
The result leaves Israel in familiar limbo. President Isaac Herzog will task a party leader with forming a coalition, but Eisenkot's path requires Arab party support—something he spent the campaign equivocating on and some of his own allies flatly reject. Netanyahu's path requires pulling partners across the aisle. Neither math is easy.
Enter President Trump, who told Axios that Netanyahu is in "pretty good shape now" after defying early projections and claimed his own endorsement "made a big difference for Bibi." Trump said he would "take a look" at brokering a unity government. An administration official told the Times of Israel that reports of specific coalition arrangements favored by Washington were "false and premature," while another official told i24NEWS that Trump might wait several weeks before inviting both men to Mar-a-Lago to close a deal.
NPR framed the vote as a "referendum" on Netanyahu's leadership since the October 7, 2023 attacks. The New Yorker emphasized that a decisive majority of Israelis rejected Netanyahu's government while noting that Eisenkot himself adopted the framework of a "Zionist majority" as the only one that counts—effectively discounting the Arab parties whose votes would be needed to unseat Netanyahu. Breitbart's coverage focused on Trump's role and the better-than-expected performance of Likud.
What none of the coverage grapples with is the cost to Americans. Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign aid since World War II, with the current memorandum of understanding committing $3.8 billion annually in military assistance through 2028—on top of supplemental packages that Congress approves with bipartisan unanimity. No audit requirement. No conditionality. No defined exit.
The same Washington that cannot agree on border security or infrastructure spending agrees without hesitation on blank checks for Israel. Whether Netanyahu limps along, Eisenkot cobbles together an awkward coalition, or Trump brokers a unity deal at his Florida club, the money moves the same way.
The question isn't who governs Israel. It's why no one in Washington ever asks what it costs you.
