Israel election: What impact on Iran as the war in the Middle East continues?

We're going to stay with the story then of the follow-up to Israel's legislative elections. For that, France 24's international affairs editor, Angela Diffley, joins me now on set. Hi, Angela. So as Noga was suggesting there, there are still several possible scenarios for the outcome. But how might all of this impact Israel's relationship with the outside world, including notably Iran? Yes, Iran is the obvious area where there could be a significant impact. And, you know, Israeli media has been rife with speculation. reports denied, and CNN also, that Netanyahu wants to strike Iran in this period while he is still caretaker prime minister before any coalitions are fully organized. That, he would say, you know, that the U.S. blockade is working well, that a final push might allow the Iranian people to topple their regime. But behind that, so many people will see the political imperative for him that that way he has a much greater chance of clinging on to power by then forcing the president to suggest a government of national unity in the case of an emergency war. Gadi Eisenkot, the head of the bloc opposing or the Jewish bloc opposing Netanyahu, has already participated in that kind of a national unity government after October the 7th he ended up walking out in July 2025 he has floated this theory about Netanyahu doing this openly and warned I will not be part of any such government you know we will see whether that's the case that said any mains you know major Israeli uh politician major Israeli party is uh wary of Iran sees it as a huge national security threat that needs to be curbed. It doesn't mean that there would be no action under any other kind of a government. Most importantly, of course, all of these reports suggested that Netanyahu spoke of his idea to Trump and Trump said after the midterms, if at all. It might or might not suit Trump after the midterms. He might be severely weakened. He still has a veto over that sort of thing in the US, even if he loses seats in Congress. But all of that would depend on that Trump relationship as well. So, Angela, aside from the international, from Iran's potential reaction or the consequences on Iran, rather, what about other countries? I mean, the damage to Israel's international reputation surprisingly wasn't necessarily a factor in this. Why is that? Well, I think perhaps if we look, the idea of a two-state solution was not at all in the campaigning. That is because it is simply such a faraway prospect, both amongst Palestinians and Israelis and Jewish Israelis. It is simply not on the cards for now. There is too much distrust. And so that was not an issue. That said, the European Union would almost certainly be happier with anybody but Netanyahu. That relationship is so frayed. So the European Union would certainly that relationship would be better. The United States, it is true that Israelis are worried by the fraying of the relationship, particularly with Democrats in the United States. And that is something they might want to prioritise later. You know, it should be noted that, you know, very few countries put their international public reputation ahead of day to day immediate concerns. And Israel is no exception to that. And also, to a certain extent, Israelis have factored into their psyche that this would happen anyway, that, you know, you do hear a lot of Israelis saying, you know, if 100 Palestinians had been killed instead of the 70,000 that the Hamas-run government claims, but that is backed by the UN saying it's a likely correct figure, Israel would still have been blamed for disproportionate use of force. So it is kind of factored into Israeli psyche. As far as Gulf countries, I think anything there would depend on what happens with Iran. And again, should be noted that what Gulf governments say in public and in private is not the same thing. And they do change their minds in accordance with the circumstances in their very near neighborhood. The Israelis note that the Abraham Accords, no country broke off from the Abraham Accords after Gaza. That is very significant. And they will bank on the fact that they will, at a later date, have to put in a lot of effort to repair international relationships. But in the end, realpolitik will prevail. India, China, Latin American countries are much less concerned with Palestinian issues. Angela Diffley, our international affairs editor. Thank you very much.