The Likud party has confirmed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will also run in the next parliamentary elections, AFP reported. She responded to the statements of US President Donald Trump, who on Tuesday indicated doubts whether the 76-year-old Prime Minister of Israel will seek another mandate at all.
- Likud confirmed that Benjamin Netanyahu will run in the upcoming elections.
- Donald Trump has publicly questioned whether Netanyahu will seek another mandate.
- Netanyahu faces an ongoing corruption trial that is still not over.
- In recent years, Netanyahu has undergone several operations, including an operation on the prostate.
- Israel, under Netanyahu’s leadership, conducts military operations in Gaza, Lebanon and against Iran.
In a statement published on the Telegram platform, Likud said that Netanyahu plans to seek the support of voters in the next election as well and believes in victory. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history, having been at the head of the government for almost two decades, with some breaks. At the same time, however, he is a defendant in a corruption case that is still ongoing in court.
Doubts of Trump
In an interview with the American station ABC News, Trump said that it is not clear what the Israeli prime minister’s next political plans are. He pointed out that Netanyahu has had a long political career and questioned whether he wants to continue in that role, especially given that he is leading a wartime government.
Netanyahu has previously publicly declared that he will seek re-election in the elections scheduled for the second half of October. Likud’s confirmation of his candidacy follows on from his earlier statements.
Health of the leader
The AFP agency recalled that the prime minister had recently faced several health problems. He recently announced that he had surgery to remove a small, early-stage malignant tumor on his prostate.
In 2024, he underwent a strip operation and in December of the same year, an operation for an enlarged prostate. According to information from his office, he has been repeatedly hospitalized since returning to the position of prime minister in December 2022.
War on several fronts
Netanyahu currently heads a country that is conducting military operations on three interconnected fronts. The Israeli army is fighting in the Gaza Strip against the Hamas movement, in Lebanon against the Shiite movement Hezbollah, and at the same time it faces Iran, which, according to AFP, supports both of these armed groups.
The combination of war conflict, legal process and health problems thus creates a complex background against which Netanyahu’s attempt to win another electoral mandate will take place.
