At times, he said, “We seem to be right on the cusp of a major breakthrough in the agreement, and then all of a sudden there’s a major explosion that goes off in a major population center in Beirut, and a lot of people who have nothing to do with Hezbollah lose their lives, and that’s not acceptable.”
Vance said Trump has become frustrated with Israel for attacking Lebanon.
(June 18, 2026)
In response to those attacks, Vance pointed out that two-thirds of Israel’s defense weapons have been built and paid for by Americans and that the problem for Israel “is not Donald Trump.”
“Anybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the President of the United States needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation in that country,” he added.
Vice President JD Vance on Thursday delivered an extraordinarily direct rebuke to Israeli critics of the U.S.-Iran peace agreement, as he sought to defend the preliminary deal with repeated misrepresentations of some of its terms.
“Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time,” Mr. Vance said. He added, “If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.”
Barak argued that Netanyahu “could sabotage the elections by launching operations in Lebanon that would provoke retaliation from Hezbollah and Iran.
“Netanyahu wants an endless war because he understands that ending it would accelerate his trial,” Barak said. “Just as he obstructed some prisoner-exchange deals (with Hamas), he also blocked the possibility of progress in Lebanon.”
Netanyahu is currently standing trial in Israel on corruption charges and is also wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) since 2024 on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
(June 8, 2026)
“The time has come to stop providing automatic backing for destructive policies that lead to endless bloodshed, and instead fight for diplomatic agreements, true security, and peace. No to war with Iran. No to Netanyahu’s eternal war.”
According to Hadash MK Ayman Odeh, “War is the last resort for those who have no answers. War is the last resort of those who fear facing reality. And no one fears reality more than the Israeli government and large segments of the opposition, who repeatedly rush to align themselves behind the government, even attempting to outflank from the right the most right-wing and dangerous government in the country’s history.”
“Were they truly brave, rather than warmongers, they would call for an immediate halt to the escalation and present an alternative to the public. And the alternative is clear: a peaceful agreement that ensures security for all peoples in the region and respects the national rights of both nations living on this land. It is impossible to keep running away from this issue. It is impossible to keep fearing to speak the truth. It is impossible to keep falling for the illusion that more wars will bring security. Therefore, I say here in the clearest possible way: No to war with Iran. No to the eternal war. Yes, to a peaceful agreement. Yes, to a different, safer, and more just future for all of us,” he agreed.
You are an idiot. And you‘re not alone with that. Even a small group of people out of the eight billion people on Earth could have stopped the West Asia War; the onslaught in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iran and even in Israel. But not a single parliament, lawmaker, NGO, journalist, or whatever-movement on Earth, not even the Good Guys, have been digging into the core of the issue; of what really happened.
And I can prove it.
Netanyahu has faced a tumultuous term since returning to power in December 2022 at the helm of the most right-wing coalition in Israeli history. He faced mass anti-government protests before the wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
Polls have repeatedly indicated that his coalition would fail to win a majority at the next election. A poll published by the Jerusalem-based Israel Democracy Institute think tank on June 9 said that 61% of the Israeli public believe he should not run.
„I don‘t know,“ Trump said when questioned about whether Netanyahu would lead Israel’s upcoming election. „He‘s had an incredible career. Does he want to continue? Because, you know, he‘s a wartime prime minister. We‘re going to win this war very soon, one way or another, and he‘s a wartime prime minister.“
Trump explicitly framed the long-serving Israeli leader‘s future as uncertain, signaling that Washington may already be preparing for a post-Netanyahu political landscape. „It‘s an open question whether Netanyahu will run again,“ Trump remarked to reporters. „I wonder if Bibi even wants to continue.
The Joint List would become the third largest faction in the Knesset if elections were held today, according to the results of a poll broadcast last night (Monday, May 25) on Channel 13 News. According to the poll, the Joint List would win 16 seats, while Likud drops to 23 seats and “Beyachad” falls to 21 seats. In this scenario, Netanyahu’s extremist right-wing bloc drops to 53 seats, while the Zionist opposition bloc falls to 51 seats. To form an alternative government, the opposition parties would need the Joint List to secure a majority of 67 Knesset members.
According to Jabareen, “The dissolution of the Joint List in 2021 was a severe mistake that cost the Arab public political power and influence. Today, everyone understands this.” He added that despite ideological gaps with Ra’am, “The price of running separately will be unbearable—a drop in voter turnout and the continuation of the far-right rule.” He also emphasized that intensive talks are underway to reach agreements: “We are doing everything we can to bring hope back to our public.”
Representatives from Hadash and two Arab partiers, Balad, and Ta’al held a joint meeting last night to accelerate the reunification of the Joint List and remove obstacles toward an agreement. The three parties emphasized their consensus on core political issues and highlighted the importance of ongoing political and parliamentary coordination after the elections.
In a joint statement, the parties declared: “We would like Ra’am to be a partner in the political agreement, but we are aware of the significant gaps between our positions regarding the character and path of the Joint List. Nevertheless, recognizing the importance of unity against existential threats, the parties expressed willingness to reach an agreement with Ra’am based on a ‘technical joint list’ for the elections, aiming to raise voter turnout, strengthen Arab representation, and topple the far-right government.”
Earlier, a similar bill to dissolve the Knesset, introduced by the Hadash faction, was debated but failed, with 52 opposition lawmakers voting in favor and 61 against. “The worst government ever, responsible for bloodshed on a horrific scale, is coming to an end,” MK Ayman Odeh stated in the Knesset plenum while presenting his faction’s bill. “We are at a historic crossroads,” he emphasized
Poll: 55% of Israelis want Netanyahu to step down, as the coalition drops to 49 seats and the opposition strengthens to a majority.
ie Wahl für ein neues Parlament würde an einem vom Knesset-Ausschuss festgelegten Termin stattfinden, der „frühestens 90 Tage nach Verabschiedung dieses Gesetzes liegen darf“, hieß es demnach weiter.
Der Gesetzentwurf wurde von der Likud-Partei veröffentlicht und von den Vorsitzenden der sechs Fraktionen unterzeichnet, die gemeinsam die Mehrheit im Parlament bilden. Israelischen Medienberichten zufolge könnte der Gesetzentwurf am 20. Mai zur Abstimmung gebracht werden.
The bill calls for elections “no less than 90 days” after it is approved, giving Netanyahu flexibility to choose a date when he feels he has the best chance of success.
(May 5, 2026)
If he decides to act, the US president will pull Israel into a state of alert that will delay the Knesset‘s dissolution and lead to the election being held as scheduled in October. If Trump chooses not to strike Iran again, Netanyahu will lead Israel to an election on Sept. 1. Sources who have spoken with Netanyahu recently say the prime minister is leaning toward moving up the election, partly due to the erosion of his security achievements.
Last month, the Hadash party announced that it would promote direct dialogue with other Arab parties to explore the revival of the Joint List, which at its peak in 2015 and 2020 became the third-largest bloc in the Knesset and briefly held kingmaker influence.
The Hadash source said that several discussions have since taken place but that Monday’s was the first to be publicized, signaling “momentum.”
The bloc split due to internal fighting in 2021 when Mansour Abbas’s Islamist United Arab List (Ra’am) broke away and it collapsed the following year ahead of the 2022 election.
(April 5, 2026)
While acknowledging that there was a “heated meeting,” the source added that “such disagreements are natural” and said that another meeting will take place in the coming weeks.
Smotrich’s comments drew immediate condemnation from the opposition, with Ra’am chairman Mansour Abbas asserting that “human life holds no value in his eyes”. MK Ayman Odeh, the chairman of Hadash-Ta’al parliamentary faction, also slammed Smotrich, declaring on X that “what the racists and Kahanists say is not important, what matters is what we will do.” “And we, the Arab citizens, together with the democratic Jews, will do everything, simply everything, to prevent Smotrich-Netanyahu-Ben Gvir from continuing to another term,” Odeh wrote.
(May 5, 2026)
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sparked an uproar on Tuesday when he asserted that former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s decision to include the Islamist Ra’am party in his 2021-2022 government was far worse than the governmental failures tied to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught — the worst attack on civilians in Israeli history, which saw some 1,200 people murdered and 251 taken hostage, and which led to a multi-front war in which some 900 others have been killed.
Smotrich’s comments drew immediate condemnation from the opposition, with Ra’am chairman Mansour Abbas asserting that “human life holds no value in [his] eyes” and Bennett accusing the finance minister, as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of “trying with all their might to make people forget the atrocities that occurred on their watch.”
(May 5, 2026)
If he decides to act, the US president will pull Israel into a state of alert that will delay the Knesset‘s dissolution and lead to the election being held as scheduled in October. If Trump chooses not to strike Iran again, Netanyahu will lead Israel to an election on Sept. 1. Sources who have spoken with Netanyahu recently say the prime minister is leaning toward moving up the election, partly due to the erosion of his security achievements.
When asked if a government could be formed “without the support of MKs Ahmad Tibi or Aida Touma-Sliman” from the Hadash-Ta’al faction, Bennett replied: “We have a large majority even without them.” This statement comes despite a series of recent polls indicating that the Zionist parties opposing Netanyahu are unlikely to secure a majority without the support of Hadash and the Arab parties. (…)
Following the unification, Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the new “Yashar” party, called this morning for a meeting of opposition leaders excluding Hadash and Islamist Ra’am, “in order to ensure victory through Zionist and statesmanlike votes without Arabs.” In his announcement, Eisenkot mentioned the leaders of the “Together” list, Bennett and Lapid, as well as Yisrael Beiteinu chairman MK Avigdor Lieberman and The Democrats leader Yair Golan.
(April 26, 2026)
Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid served as prime ministers in a rotation agreement as part of a coalition government they formed in 2021, ending 12 years of Netanyahu’s rule. Now they plan to merge their parties into single faction headed by Bennett, calling it a partnership between the center and the right.
Bennett said if elected, the new government on its first day would establish a state commission of inquiry into the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel that started the war, an issue that has dogged Netanyahu.
There have been calls in Israel for a public inquiry into the failures around the Oct. 7 attack, the deadliest on Israel in its history.
During the session, political leaders, including the Communist Party of Israel Secretary-General Adel Amer and Hadash Secretary Amjad Shbita, addressed the regional political situation. Discussions centered on the fragile ceasefire, the risk of renewed war on Iran and Lebanon, and the concerning rise of internal fascism and ongoing occupation of Palestinian, Lebanese and Syrian territories.
“The establishment of the Joint List is not merely a tactical maneuver,” Hadash stated in an official communique. “It is a fundamental mission to shift the political balance of power and intensify the struggle against the occupation.” In addition to election preparations, Hadash leadership issued a formal call for public mobilization. Activists and supporters are urged to participate in International Workers’ Day events on Friday, May 1, in Tel Aviv, on Saturday, May 2 in Nazareth and other localities.
The Gaza Health Ministry has reported over 72,345 Palestinian deaths amid ongoing conflict, while Polymarket’s Netanyahu exit by June 30 contract sits at 5.5% YES, down from 8% a week ago.
The death toll figure adds pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu as the fragile ceasefire continues to face violations. The June 30 market is at 5.5% YES. The April 30 market is at 0.8% YES, showing deep skepticism about immediate political fallout.