Netanyahu’s shadow starts to recede in Israel

THE PARALLEL-UNIVERSE politics that played out in Jerusalem this month were unusual, even for a holy city full of surprises. In the real Jerusalem on October 10th, Naftali Bennett, Israel’s prime minister (pictured), was glad-handing Germany’s outgoing chancellor, Angela Merkel, by welcoming her to a special session of his cabinet. In the otherworldly Jerusalem, Mr Bennett’s predecessor, Binyamin Netanyahu, was holding court with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, the son-in-law and daughter of America’s ex-president, Donald Trump, and Mike Pompeo, his last secretary of state. It was as if the video had been wound back to 2020, before voters evicted them all from power.In office Mr Netanyahu and Mr Trump embraced each other. Out of power, they still cast shadows over the politics of their countries. Mr Trump rails against the supposedly “stolen” American election of 2020. Mr Netanyahu accepts the result of the Israeli vote this year, but regards Mr Bennett as illegitimate. The faithful still address Mr Netanyahu as “prime minister”.