Netanyahu's situation reminiscent of Trump's

HE has been a politically controversial and divisive national leader. A right-wing politician who has promoted a nationalist agenda sprinkled with Us vs Them populist themes; a charismatic and ageing public figure, who tends to highlight the threats his country faces from foreign adversaries and his commitment to an aggressive national security stand.

Stunning pollsters and journalists who had predicted his electoral defeat, and detested by the liberal political and intellectual elites in the country, he was elected to office riding on the support of lower middle-class and less educated voters in the political periphery who count on him to take on what they see as a hostile and left-leaning media and to stand up to foreign adversaries.

And now he is fighting for his political survival, confronting charges of ethical misdeeds and political corruption, and being investigated by law enforcement agencies and judicial bodies for breaking the law. It could eventually force him from office and perhaps land him in jail if found guilty.