As Netanyahu prepares for elections, his foes in Iran and Lebanon could get a vote

JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will soon have to decide when to hold Israel’s next elections. But with war raging on multiple fronts and no end in sight, Israel’s enemies in Iran and Lebanon may help make that decision for him.

The stakes could hardly be higher: A victory will add to his legacy as Israel’s longest-ruling leader and fend off, if not quash altogether, calls for a reckoning over the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks that triggered 2 ½ years of war across the region.