Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, has repeatedly ruled out early elections in which he would be defeated, according to opinion polls, saying that going to the polls in the middle of war would only be a reward for Hamas, the ruling Islamist movement. Gaza.
His Likud party said on Wednesday that Gantz needed to “stop playing petty politics” during the war. “Elections at this time will bring paralysis, division and damage to the fighting in Rafah and a fatal blow to the chances of a hostage settlement,” Likud said.
Gantz, a former army general, joined Netanyahu’s government in the early days of the war in a gesture of political unity during the crisis. Polls suggest his party would win any election and he would be the favorite to become prime minister.
Netanyahu has promised to bring the hostages home as well as destroy Hamas, although it is unclear how Israel could do this and experts doubt it is even possible. Israel’s relentless air, land and sea assault has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and provoked a humanitarian catastrophe.
Polls indicate that a majority of Israelis disapprove of Netanyahu’s leadership since the Hamas attack on communities in southern Israel on October 7, in which some 1,200 people were killed and many hostages were taken, according to data from Israel.
If there are no changes, the next vote for the Israeli Parliament is scheduled for October 27, 2026, according to Israel’s Central Elections Committee.
