Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will run in the upcoming parliamentary elections, personally confirming this at an extraordinary press conference on Monday with the words: “I will run in the elections and I intend to win“, Le Monde reported.
His party “Likud“ also officially announced his candidacy a few days earlier. The elections in Israel are due to be held by the end of October 2026 at the latest.
Netanyahu's decision to announce his candidacy was accelerated after US President Donald Trump publicly expressed doubts about whether the 76-year-old Israeli leader would ever run again. Netanyahu is entering the campaign at a time of serious decline in public confidence. The latest polls by the Israel Democracy Institute show that about 61% of Israelis do not want him to run again.
On Monday, Netanyahu made his first comment on the announced interim peace agreement (memorandum of understanding) between the United States and Iran, which ends the more than 100-day war in the Middle East. The prime minister stressed that Israel is not a party to the agreement, stating directly: “This agreement was concluded by the United States, by the president of the United States. This is his decision. We have our own interests“.
Netanyahu admitted that he and Donald Trump do not always “see eye to eye“. Meanwhile, reports have emerged that Trump has sharply criticized Netanyahu in the media, accusing him of a lack of judgment over the Israeli strikes in Beirut in the final phase of the negotiations. However, Netanyahu defended his campaign, saying that joint actions by Israel and the United States had achieved a historic victory and saved the country from “nuclear annihilation“.
Netanyahu categorically announced that, regardless of the US-brokered ceasefire with Iran, the Israeli army (IDF) would not withdraw and would maintain its positions in the “security zones“ in southern Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and Syria for as long as necessary to protect Israeli citizens.
Opposition leaders (including Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett) criticized his June 15 statements, calling his policy a “historic failure”. They accused him of saying that Iran had emerged stronger from the conflict, and Israel – more isolated.
Alongside the political crisis, Netanyahu's corruption trial continues in an active phase. On Monday, judges rejected his defense's request to shorten the next hearing.