Netanyahu Plans to Run for Re‑election Amid Trump Skepticism and War Pressures

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that he will run for re‑election in Israel’s forthcoming national vote, according to a statement from his Likud party on Wednesday. The announcement came after U.S. President Donald Trump publicly expressed uncertainty about Netanyahu’s intentions.

Netanyahu, Israel’s longest‑serving prime minister, has led the country through three years of conflict and is currently on trial for corruption. In recent months he has faced growing criticism from opposition leaders who claim he has not met the war objectives he set following Hamas’s October 2023 attack.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu will run in the next elections and, God Willing, he will win,” the Likud party said in a Telegram post.

Trump’s remarks followed a tense exchange between the two leaders a few days earlier, during which the U.S. president berated Netanyahu in a profanity‑laden outburst. Netanyahu downplayed the confrontation in an appearance on CNBC.

The Israeli leader’s political future is complicated by strains in U.S. relations and domestic criticism over his handling of multiple conflicts. He is currently engaged in military operations on three fronts: Gaza, where Israel continues actions against Hamas despite a formal ceasefire; Lebanon, where it is targeting the Iran‑backed Hezbollah movement; and Iran, where Israel and the U.S. have launched attacks that have escalated regional tensions.

– Severe criticisms –

Opposition figures have increasingly challenged Netanyahu’s wartime leadership. Yair Lapid, Israel’s main opposition leader, described the government’s decision in April to agree to a ceasefire with Iran as a “political disaster.” Critics argue that Netanyahu has set ambitious military goals but has not translated battlefield gains into clear strategic outcomes. While he has highlighted operations against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran as successes, opponents contend that these achievements have not produced lasting political or security results.

A poll released on Tuesday by the independent Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) found that 61 percent of Israelis, including 57 percent of Jewish Israelis, believe Netanyahu should not stand for re‑election.

Netanyahu’s relationship with Trump has also come under scrutiny. U.S. media reports this week said Trump warned the Israeli leader that he might have to fight his own battles if Israel continued strikes on Iran.

Health issues have also affected Netanyahu. Earlier this year he disclosed that surgeons had successfully removed a “small, early‑stage malignant tumour” from his prostate. He has been admitted to hospital several times since returning to office in December 2022. In March 2024 he underwent hernia surgery, and in December of the same year he had surgery on an enlarged prostate. In July 2023, less than three months before the Gaza war began, he had a pacemaker implanted after a brief hospitalisation following complaints of dizziness.

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