Whoever emerges as the next Israeli prime minister after Tuesday’s general election, one thing is certain: he or she will face a set of challenges that would daunt even the hardiest of the country’s past leaders.

Israel’s clash with the Islamist Hamas group, which last month exploded into a bloody war, remains largely unresolved; prospects for a peace deal with Palestine are dim; Syria is, according to one top official, on a “collision course” with Israel; Iran is pressing ahead with its nuclear programme; and, finally, there is a new US administration widely believed to be less friendly than the previous one.