Trump Eyes Changes to Israel's Cabinet

US President Donald Trump wants two specific Israeli ministers excluded from the next government, according to American sources.

Those sources told the Israeli outlet Walla on Wednesday that Ben-Gvir and Smotrich should not hold cabinet posts. Trump believes settler violence is currently undermining his regional vision. It is making it harder to carry out that plan.

The reported position arrives as preliminary election results point to a stalemate. The Central Elections Committee announced the data on Wednesday morning. More than four million votes had been counted by then. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc is expected to enter the Knesset with 54 seats. His Likud party is projected to win 27 seats. United Torah Judaism, Shas, and Otzma Yehudit are each expected to take seven seats. The Religious Zionist Party is expected to win six seats.

The opposition bloc is expected to win 49 seats. That group includes Yashar, B'Yachad, Yisrael Beytenu, and the Democrats. Neither side reaches the 61 seats needed for a majority. The question of who can form a government remains open. Exit polls suggested Arab parties could play a role in determining if a coalition is possible.

Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit and the alliance of Smotrich's Religious Zionist Party and Zehut were projected to win about 13 seats combined. That total makes them potentially important partners in any future coalition led by Netanyahu. The projections are preliminary. The final distribution of seats will depend on the official count.

Two parties failed to cross the electoral threshold in the exit polls. The Reservists' Party and People of Israel did not reach the bar. Celebrations broke out at Likud headquarters after the results were published. Ofer Winter, chairman of Amcha Yisrael, also missed the threshold. Sources close to Winter claimed Netanyahu had drained their votes. They called it a strategic mistake.

Trump spoke on Wednesday about the war with Iran. He said it could end whenever he decides. He stated, It will end very quickly, but we have to make sure it ends the right way. Ending the war requires an absolute and unequivocal declaration that they will never have nuclear weapons, Trump added. He described Iran as the number one state sponsor of terrorism in the world.