After Gaza War, Netanyahu To Seek Re-election

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Saturday, said that he would run for office again in the November 2026 elections.

Appearing on a programme on the right-wing Channel 14, Netanyahu was asked whether he intended to seek a re-election in office and he replied in the affirmative.

Leader of Likud, Israel’s main right-wing party, Netanyahu, holds the record for the longest time served as Israel’s prime minister — more than 18 years in total, with interruptions, since 1996.

In the last elections, his Likud party won 32 seats in the Knesset, its ultra-Orthodox allies 18, and the Religious Zionism alliance 14, a record showing for the far right.

His current term began with a controversial judicial overhaul plan that sparked months of mass protests, with tens of thousands of Israelis taking to the streets almost daily.

Since the start of the Gaza war triggered by Hamas’ unprecedented October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Netanyahu has also faced mounting criticism from families of hostages over his handling of the war.

Earlier in the week, the war ended following a peace plan spearheaded by the United States president Donald Trump, which both sides exchanged prisoners of war, including dead bodies.