Netanyahu says he will compete in the next Israeli elections

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday he planned to compete in elections slated for later this year, amid internal criticism over his wartime leadership.

Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, has led his country through three years of conflict on numerous interwoven fronts and is currently on trial for corruption.

“In recent months he has faced increasing criticism from opposition leaders who accuse him of failing to meet the war aims he vowed after Hamas’ October 2023 attack on Israel.”I am going to run in the elections and I want to win,” he declared in a televised press conference, his first comments since Washington and Tehran struck an agreement to stop the Middle East crisis ignited by US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.

Israeli officials across the political spectrum condemned the US-Iran agreement on Monday, saying it will not serve their country’s interests.

“It is a dangerous turn for Israel’s security,” warned former prime minister and prominent election hopeful Naftali Bennett.

Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party said earlier in June that the 76-year-old would seek re-election in the ballot, expected by the end of October.

It occurred after President Donald Trump publicly questioned if the veteran lawmaker and close buddy would run.

Netanyahu, who has been prime minister for almost two decades in several terms, also has been dealing with recent health problems.

Earlier this year he revealed surgeons had successfully removed what he described as a’small, early-stage malignant cancer’ from his prostate.