News Flash
JERUSALEM, June 10, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will
seek re-election in Israel's upcoming national vote, his Likud party
announced Wednesday, after US President Donald Trump publicly questioned
whether the 76-year-old would run.
Netanyahu, who is Israel's longest-serving prime minister, has led his
country through three years of war, and is currently on trial for corruption.
In recent months, he has faced mounting criticism from opposition leaders who
accuse him of failing to achieve the war aims he set out following Hamas's
October 2023 attack on Israel.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu will run in the next elections and, God Willing, he
will win," Netanyahu's Likud party announced on Telegram.
The declaration came after Trump told ABC News he was uncertain about
Netanyahu's intentions.
"I don't know, he's had an amazing career. Does he want to continue?" Trump
said. "Because, you know, he's a wartime prime minister."
Netanyahu had previously said he would stand for re-election in the vote,
scheduled to be held by late October. He has served as prime minister for
nearly two decades across multiple terms.
Trump's remarks followed a tense exchange between the two leaders days
earlier, in which the US president berated his close ally in a profanity-
laced outburst.
Netanyahu, for his part, downplayed the exchange in an appearance on CNBC.
The Israeli leader's political future has been clouded by strains in
relations with Washington and sustained criticism from domestic opponents
over his handling of multiple conflicts.
Netanyahu is currently waging wars on three interconnected fronts.
In Gaza, Israel is continuing military operations against Hamas despite a
formal ceasefire in the Palestinian territory since October last year.
In Lebanon, it is pursuing a campaign against the Iran-backed movement
Hezbollah.
And in Iran, Israel joined its ally the US in launching a wave of attacks
that killed much of the country's leadership and triggered a war that has
spread across the region.
- 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 repeatedly set ambitious military objectives but
failed to translate battlefield gains into clear strategic outcomes.
While Netanyahu has highlighted operations against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran
as major successes, opponents contend that military achievements have not
produced lasting political or security results.
They argue that the government repeatedly declared progress toward goals such
as destroying Hamas, neutralising Hezbollah and containing Iran, without
fully achieving those objectives.
A poll published 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.
US media reports this week said Trump warned the Israeli leader that he might
have to fight his own battles if Israel continued carrying out strikes on
Iran.
Netanyahu has also battled a recent series of health issues.
Earlier this year, he disclosed that surgeons had successfully removed what
he described as a "small, early-stage malignant tumour" from his prostate.
Netanyahu has been admitted to hospital several times since returning to
office in December 2022, according to his office.
In March 2024, he underwent hernia surgery, before having the operation on
his enlarged prostate in December of the same year.
In July 2023, less than three months before the start of the Gaza war,
triggered by Hamas's surprise October 7 attack on Israel, Netanyahu had a
pacemaker implanted after a brief hospitalisation following complaints of
dizziness.
