Trump ‘bromance’ broke Israel’s bipartisan rule. Will Netanyahu pay?

Well before Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel made the calculated decision to align himself closely with the Republican Party.

So much so that he’s sometimes referred to as “the Republican senator from Israel,” and Israel itself has been called – only half-jokingly – “a red state.”

But as Mr. Netanyahu, a Trump loyalist whose sluggish congratulatory message to President-elect Joe Biden was noted by critics at home, adjusts to the impending transition in Washington, a question is being asked in Israel: Will the country pay a political price for breaking a cardinal rule from its own playbook, that preserving bipartisan U.S. support is sacrosanct, essential for Israel survival?

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid was the first to assail Mr. Netanyahu’s “Republicans First” approach,