India, Oct. 24 -- JERUSALEM - Benjamin Netanyahu has fought five election campaigns, endured two impeachment-style proceedings, survived three years of weekly street protests, stood trial on corruption charges, defied an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, presided over a grinding war in Gaza, authorised assassinations of the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, and launched two military confrontations with Iran. He has been written off more times than any figure in the modern democratic world.

On Tuesday 27 October, he asks Israeli voters to judge whether all of that adds up to a record worthy of re-election, or a reckoning long overdue.

27 October marks the first Israeli election in 38 years to reach the natural end of a full Knes...