NETANYAHU DEFIES EXIT POLLS TO TAKE LEAD IN ISRAELI ELECTION — WHAT IT MEANS FOR IRAN WAR:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in the lead following a pivotal election Tuesday — making a third act for the Iran war almost certain.

The prime minister’s coalition was in the lead Wednesday with 53 seats after Gadi Eisenkot’s Change bloc failed to deliver a knockout blow following the highest election turnout in decades.

Eisenkot had 49 seats with more than 90% of the vote counted. Both sides were notably well short of the 61 seats needed for a majority.

However, Netanyahu’s apparent comeback — after exit polls Tuesday showed him behind the opposition — will give him room to launch a new campaign against Iran with American forces following the US midterm elections, observers say.

“The Iranian regime did not expect that Netanyahu would be the biggest party. They are afraid of him because he talks against Iran about attacking Iran again,” Beni Sabti, an Iran expert at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Israel, told the Post.

Netanyahu has long pushed to topple mullahs in the Islamic Republic. Eisenkot agrees that Iran must never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon, but has said regime change is unrealistic.

That’s unfortunate: Iran’s Leaders Are Openly Threatening a Nuclear Strike. We Must Finish the Job.

UPDATE: Trump backs Netanyahu as Israel readies for new Iran strikes.