Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared this Saturday (27) his intention to form a broad coalition if he wins the next legislative elections, explicitly distancing himself from both the extreme right and the left.
Netanyahu, the longest-serving prime minister over several terms in the country’s history, announced that he intends to contest the national elections, which must be held by October 27 at the latest.
“I intend to establish a broad national government, not a right-wing government, not a left-wing government that depends on Arab parties, but a broad national government,” Netanyahu said in a televised address, in a significant shift in his political strategy.
“Because I believe that only in this way can we reach internal agreements… This means, first of all: enough boycotts. I’m not boycotting anyone. I say that everyone can unite; they just need to accept our basic principles: that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people and that we respect individual rights”, he added.
Netanyahu’s statements come at a time when he himself — who currently leads one of the most right-wing governments in Israel’s history — has obtained unfavorable results in the most recent opinion polls.
By seeking rapprochement with the other side of the political spectrum, Netanyahu appears to be trying to reformulate his electoral proposal around national unity, rather than ideological alignment.
A recent poll showed that the majority of Israelis want him to leave office, as a result of the agreement between Iran and the United States, widely criticized in Israel.
Added to this is public discontent with the security failures that allowed the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, an episode that triggered the war in Gaza.
