Benjamin Netanyahu

Trump takes credit for Netanyahu's poll performance in Israel election

Trump said he would consider helping form a unity government in Israel, as partial results showed Netanyahu's bloc ahead

Israel election 2026: Arab parties could emerge as kingmakers amid deadlock

With nearly 90 per cent of votes counted, neither Benjamin Netanyahu nor Gadi Eisenkot appears to have the numbers to form a government, while Arab parties could emerge as kingmakers

Israel election: Netanyahu bloc leads with 53 seats as 90% of votes counted

Partial results showed the opposing bloc with 48 seats, while three factions remained below the 3.25% electoral threshold; counting of soldiers' ballots and other double-envelope votes remains

Israel election: People protest across cities calling for Jewish-Arab govt

Demonstrations in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa called for inclusive governance, while partial results showed the pro-Netanyahu bloc leading with 53 seats against 48 for the opposing bloc

Israel exit polls show tight contest between Netanyahu and Eisenkot

Netanyahu's religious right-wing alliance and Eisenkot's more centrist bloc are both on track to secure 51 of Israel's 120 parliamentary seats, according to two exit polls

Netanyahu bloc falls short of majority as partial count points to deadlock

Israel's parliamentary election may not produce any clear winner, with exit polls showing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud emerging as the largest party, but the opposition bloc led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot projected to win more seats than the ruling coalition in estimates by three major broadcasters. The projections for Tuesday's parliamentary election from Channel 13, Channel 12 and public broadcaster Kan put Netanyahu's bloc at 50 seats in the 120-member Knesset, short of the 61 needed for a majority. The opposition bloc is projected to win 52-53 seats, while Arab-led parties are expected to secure 17-18 seats. According to the Central Elections Committee, 77.7 per cent of voters cast their ballots, an increase of 7.1 per cent from-2022, and the highest since 1999. A separate exit poll by i24NEWS gave a more favourable projection to Netanyahu's camp, putting his bloc at 55 seats against 49 for Eisenkot's bloc, with Arab-led parties projected to win 16 ...

Who is Gadi Eisenkot, the ex-army chief challenging Netanyahu in Israel?

After four decades in uniform, Gadi Eisenkot is seeking to translate his military credentials into political power, challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after an election that has left Israel's rival political blocs short of a clear parliamentary majority. The 66-year-old leader of the Yashar party has emerged as a central figure in the effort to replace Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister. Exit polls released after Tuesday's election projected neither camp securing the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-member Knesset. Depending on the broadcaster, Netanyahu's right-wing bloc was projected to win 50-52 seats, while the opposition bloc was estimated to have 49-53. Arab-led parties were projected to win around 17-18 seats. The figures were projections, not final results, with the official count still under way. Turnout reached 77.7 per cent, the highest since 1999, according to election authorities. Eisenkot described the exit polls as evidence of a

Israel election 2026: Netanyahu faces tight race as turnout surges

Record voter turnout and anger over security failures put Netanyahu's long-standing grip on power to the test

Datanomics: India maintains steady trade surplus with Israel since 2010

As Israel votes on October 27, India's exports to the country have risen tenfold since 1996, with trade largely in India's favour, even as tourism flows show contrasting trends

Israel election tests Netanyahu as war, ethnic tensions shape campaign

As Israel goes to the polls on Tuesday, the first since the tumultuous events of October 7, 2023, it is being seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's leadership. Issues such as security, judicial overhaul, the secular-religious divide over national burden sharing, ethnicity, and the economy are at the forefront but talks of a two-state solution to the vexed Israel-Palestinian conflict have been pushed out of public discussions. Opinion polls indicate that Netanyahu's Likud party and the opposition led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot are competing in a close race, with neither side assured of the parliamentary majority needed to form a government. Netanyahu is seeking to retain power after three years of war and mounting demands for accountability over the October 7, 2023, attack. Eisenkot, a former chief of staff of the Israel Defence Forces, has emerged as a principal challenger, while former prime minister Naftali Bennett is leading a separate oppositio

Israel heads to poll as Netanyahu's future, coalition math remain uncertain

Israel will hold parliamentary elections on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeking to retain power amid debate over the government's handling of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, the subsequent wars and its domestic and foreign policies. The election is widely seen as a test of Netanyahu's leadership, as opposition leaders, including former military chief Gadi Eisenkot and former prime minister Naftali Bennett, seek to challenge his right-wing coalition. Opinion polls indicate neither bloc is assured of the parliamentary majority needed to form a government. Israel, roughly the size of north-eastern India's Mizoram state, uses a nationwide proportional representation system, with the entire country serving as a single electoral constituency to elect the 120 members of the Knesset, Israel's parliament. Voters do not elect individual members of parliament. Instead, they vote for closed party lists. This system allows numerous political parties to compete for seats i

Israel election 2026: Netanyahu's rivals, key parties and what's at stake

Final opinion polls point to a possible deadlock, with neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition nor the Opposition projected to secure a majority

Israel election masks economic fault lines as war spending surges

Soaring defence spending, rising debt, talent outflows and ultra-Orthodox exemptions pose long-term economic challenges despite strong headline growth

Israelis abroad expected to fly home to vote in high-stakes election

For two decades since leaving Israel for Canada, Yael Natra said, she didn't consider returning to vote in her home country's elections. She felt it wasn't right to cast a ballot in a place she no longer lived. But now, after seeing the far right gain power, Natra, 61, said she believed she had no choice. Ahead of Israel's election on Tuesday - the first since the 2023 Hamas-led attacks and ensuing wars in the region - Natra spent thousands of dollars to travel nearly 6,000 miles from Toronto to Tel Aviv to be in the country and vote, she said. Israeli law generally requires citizens to vote in person in the country, with narrow exceptions for diplomats and certain official emissaries abroad. Natra said she plans to cast her ballot for parties not aligned with the current government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "The Israel that I grew up in is disappearing," she said in an interview from Toronto, citing an eroding democracy and deeply divided society. "If something won

Israelis hold final rally against Netanyahu ahead of consequential election

Israelis held a final large rally against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of what has been described as the most consequential election in the country's history. Meanwhile, the death toll rose from Friday's attack on a church in Jordan. And an Iranian military commander said his country will not allow US warships to enter the Persian Gulf as concerns grow of a return to all-out war. Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Saturday. Read our full coverage here. Thousands rally in Tel Aviv days ahead of Israel's election ---------------------------------------------------------------- A large crowd gathered in a final protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government ahead of Tuesday's close election. The crowd heard calls for a commission of inquiry into the security failures that led to the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war in Gaza. Netanyahu has refused such an inquiry. Netanyahu's chief rival, Gadi Eisenkot, attended the

Macron takes apparent dig at Trump, Netanyahu for comments on France unrest

Speaking in Doha during a Gulf visit, the French president criticised foreign leaders for using France's recent riots for political gain, saying some were campaigning at the country's expense

Pete Hegseth meets Benjamin Netanyahu in unannounced visit to Israel

Hegseth said ‌in a social media post ​that he had visited ​US service members in the Central Command area of responsibility, which covers ​the West Asia, northeast Africa and parts of Asia

Focusing on midterms: Vance declines to endorse Netanyahu for reelection

Vice President J D Vance declined to endorse Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu for reelection a day after President Donald Trump endorsed the embattled Israeli leader. "The president has the most influential endorsement in American or international political history," Vance said on Monday during an interview with journalist Mark Halperin. "I endorse American candidates, and that's where I'm focused on the midterms," Vance said, while travelling to campaign for Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley of North Carolina. "So, I'm not getting involved in Israeli elections." Vance has campaigned for a foreign leader -- then-Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban -- last spring before the right-wing leader's party lost that country's parliamentary election. Vance's deference to Trump on Netanyahu comes at an extraordinarily sensitive time for Jewish Americans and the US alliance with Israel. Concerns about antisemitism have surged across the political spectrum ahead of the midterm ..

Netanyahu thanks Trump for endorsement, cites Iran threat ahead of election

Netanyahu praised Trump's leadership while arguing that their strategic partnership is essential to completing the mission against Iran's nuclear ambitions

Netanyahu warns of hostile future US Prez, calls for alliances with India

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday warned that a future US president could be hostile towards Israel, calling for new alliances with countries such as India and those in Latin America to strengthen his country's position. Netanyahu made the remarks during an event at which he presented his security doctrine, nine days before Israel's October 27 election. The remarks came hours before a strong endorsement he received from US President Donald Trump, who publicly expressed his support for Netanyahu's re-election bid days before the country goes to the polls. "In two years, a President, man or woman, could come to power who is very hostile to Israel," Netanyahu said. "How would you deal with that? How would you operate in relation to the United States? And beyond that, what solutions would be necessary?", he questioned. The Israeli Premier stressed that Israel must use the remaining years of Trump's presidency to strengthen its position while preparing for a potential