It's not that often that other countries' parliamentary elections can have such profound influences on the United States' foreign policy and politics, but Israel's Tuesday election is certainly one of them. As right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tries to fend off his center-left challenger in a tight race, he's made a campaign pledge not to allow a Palestinian state — widely seen as a last-ditch effort to woo conservatives to vote — that's anathema not only to the wishes of his key allies in Washington, but also to what his party's supported in the past. (It's also, Chuck Todd points out, not exactly what a confident candidate does just a day before an election.)