Benjamin Netanyahu wins fifth term

Reuters informs that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has won the Israeli national election, securing a record fifth term in office. Netanyahu is set to serve a fifth term as Israel’s prime minister after his main rival conceded that he had lost the election.

The Guardian writes that with 97% of votes counted, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and the Blue and White party, led by former army general Benny Gantz, had tied with 35 seats each in the 120-seat house, the Knesset. However, the rightwing bloc that Netanyahu is part of had 65 in total, a comfortable majority.

U.S. designate Iranian military unit as a terrorist group

The Wall Street Journal writes that the United States listed Iran’s elite military ­Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization as the Trump administration looks for new ways to increase economic and political pressure on the regime in Tehran.

The designation marks the first time Washington has branded a foreign government entity a terrorist group and came despite warnings from U.S. military and intelligence officials that other nations could use the designation as a precedent against U.S. action abroad.

Washington Post writes that Iran’s often-bickering leaders have presented a united front in the face of the U.S. move. On Tuesday, lawmakers in parliament wore olive-green fatigues to demonstrate solidarity with the Guard and opened the session with chants of “Death to America.” President Hassan Rouhani called the U.S. move a “mistake” and said it would only boost the organization’s popularity, at home and abroad.

Prepared by Marina Muradyan