Political predictions are always risky, but downright dangerous in Israeli politics. With a plethora of political parties and factions in ever-shifting coalitions, an election in Israel is normally the starting gun for weeks of elaborate and unpredictable horse-trading before a government emerges — or fails to. The process is barely underway since Tuesday’s vote. Yet even at this early stage, some trends bear watching.

The results confirmed that the classic issues of Israeli elections past, how to deal with Palestinians and their lands, have faded in the absence of progress toward a negotiated peace. So instead the focus shifted to domestic matters, and to the long reign of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, known popularly as Bibi. “Bibi fatigue” is nothing new, given a long string of scandals around him and his wife.

In the past, Mr. Netanyahu overcame the resistance by capitalizing on his image as a strong guarantor of national security. But faced with a party formed by three former military chiefs of staff and led by an especially popular one, Benny Gantz, Mr. Netanyahu no longer appears indispensable for security.

Facing a looming indictment in three corruption cases, Mr. Netanyahu pulled out all the political tactics that served him well over 23 years — fear-mongering, Arab-bashing, vilifying opponents, pledging to annex the Jordan Valley and claiming a unique relationship with America, and now especially with President Trump.