In theory, this means Netanyahu could continue as caretaker prime minister for months and even years, with most of his powers.
This has actually previously happened: Netanyahu himself holds the record for length of time serving as a caretaker prime minister, for a year and a half between December 2018 and May 2020.
In that period, three indecisive elections were held, until Netanyahu finally formed a unity government with his main political rival.
In a post on the US social media platform X, Ben-Gvir said Netanyahu had “promised the US administration that, following the election, he would form a unity government with Gadi Eisenkot — and without Ben-Gvir.”
His remarks came after newspaper Israel Hayom reported that US President Donald Trump is pushing for a unity government involving Netanyahu and his main challenger Eisenkot, with the Israeli premier reportedly signaling in closed-door talks that he would be willing to abandon his far-right allies to advance the Abraham Accords to normalize ties with Arab countries, including with Saudi Arabia.
An “unprecedented confrontation” has been unfolding in recent days between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir surrounding an instruction by the prime minister for unspecified military action that defense officials believe could lead to a swift confrontation with Iran shortly before the election, Channel 12 reported Sunday.
The TV network, which cited anonymous sources, said Zamir had been resisting carrying out the military action, no details of which were provided, and sought further deliberations, as well as signed documentation from Netanyahu regarding legal authorization for it.
Citing unnamed senior sources, Haaretz says that the senior Mossad officials have pushed back on plans to strike Iran now, raising concerns about the timing of such a strike and its possible impact on tomorrow’s election.
The senior Mossad officials questioned Netanyahu’s judgement and expressed concern that political considerations were being conflated with security ones, Haaretz reports.
(March 4, 2015)
The prime minister has been warning for over 20 years that Tehran is close to achieving its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
„Jeder, der um sein eigenes körperliches Überleben, das seiner Familie und seiner Liebsten besorgt ist, sollte mit zitternder Hand wählen, wenn er seine Stimme jemandem geben will, der nicht in der Lage sein wird, die Aufgabe zu erfüllen“, schrieb er, offenbar mit Blick auf ein erneutes Vorgehen gegen Iran. Solche Menschen setzten sich und ihre Angehörigen der Gefahr eines „zweiten Holocaust“ aus, schrieb der Vorsitzende der rechtskonservativen Likud-Partei.
3. Crimes against humanity (underlying crimes)
Extermination, and other inhumane acts
47. The Commission considered (i) the large number of victims killed; (ii) the methods used by the Israeli forces to target the civilian population (through the firing of live ammunition and airstrikes); (iii) the locations of the killings (densely populated areas); and (iv) the remarks and statements of the Israeli authorities, and finds that the cases it investigated and documented show a pattern where civilians in the West Bank were intentionally and directly targeted and killed by the Israeli soldiers on a mass scale since 7 October 2023. The Commission finds that, together with the mass killings by the Israeli forces, settler violence constitutes a component of the attack against this civilian population. Conduct of Israeli authorities indicate that they knew and intended settler violence to be part of the attack. The Commission concludes that the Israeli authorities and security forces have committed the crime against humanity of extermination against the civilian population in the West Bank since 7 October 2023.
48. The Commission’s findings on extermination apply equally to the crime against humanity of other inhumane acts. The Commission concludes that the Israeli authorities and forces have committed the crime against humanity of other inhumane acts, in particular causing serious injury to body and to mental or physical health against the civilian population in the West Bank since 7 October 2023.
Torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence
49. The Commission finds that investigated cases of torture, reproductive violence, rape and other forms of sexual violence of comparable gravity were not isolated incidents. Rather, these acts form part of the broader attack directed against the civilian population. Furthermore, the Commission finds that the Israeli authorities support and encourage such acts. The Commission therefore concludes that the Israeli authorities and security forces have committed the crimes against humanity of torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence of comparable gravity against the civilian population.
Therefore, we all – proud Jewish Zionist Israelis included – must encourage this part of the population – full citizens of the Jewish State of Israel – to exercise not only their lawful right to vote but their lawful right to sit in the Knesset, be in the governing coalition, and serve as government ministers. And we must accept them with open arms when they “flock” to do so.
This is the only viable, sustainable, and livable future for this country.
Let’s just keep it to things that have happened roughly this past week; otherwise this piece could end up being the length of a medium-sized book.
There was the incident where illegal Israeli settlers in the West Bank — who are financed, armed, enabled, and otherwise supported in every possible way by the Israeli government — viciously attacked a Washington Post photojournalist, breaking her ribs and fracturing her vertebrae, and a day later attacked a group of European diplomats from Belgium, France, and Poland (countries that, unlike Israel, actually are US treaty allies).
The reaction was, well, muted.
During the presidency of Joe Biden, the requests included switching off the service to prevent Iranian proxy militias in Yemen and Lebanon from using Starlink to communicate, and activating the service to provide internet access inside Iran and in Ukraine to support its military, said four of the former officials.
Similarly, President Donald Trump‘s administration asked Musk, who is CEO of SpaceX, to make the service available in Iran following US-Israeli strikes in 2025 and 2026, in hopes it would bolster internet access and communications for anti-government protesters, a former senior Trump official and a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
DSA’s choice in a high-profile California congressional race hopes to build internationalism — understood as “solidarity between working people across borders” — into her service in the U.S. House, should she be elected in November.
Los Angeles DSA and DSA National have endorsed Angela Gonzales-Torres in her race to represent California’s 34th congressional district. The run-off election against embattled incumbent U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez will be one of the highest-profile DSA challenges on the ballot for the Nov. 3 general election. Due to California’s jungle primary system, both candidates in the general will appear on the Democratic ballot line.
In the current political environment, I’m struggling with an extreme case of what psychologists call “cognitive dissonance.” Put simply, half of me is praying for a Democratic takeover of the House and Senate; and the other half is suffering fitful sleeplessness that the Democratic Socialist Alliance (DSA) and its fellow travelers may become the dominant voice in my once beloved Party.
Hamas praised the attack in a statement but did not claim responsibility.
“Together with all the people of Israel, I pray for the full and speedy recovery of those wounded in the attack,” said Netanyahu’s main rival, former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, said in a statement on X.
Israel’s October 27 election could reshape the country’s political landscape, but neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s allies nor the opposition has a clear path to a governing majority. The outcome of the vote could determine not only who leads Israel, but how the country contends with various domestic and foreign policy concerns.
Yair Golan, the leader of the Democrats in Israel, has condemned Prime Minister Netanyahu following allegations that the premier planned fresh strikes against Iran just weeks before the upcoming Knesset elections.
His remarks came after The Financial Times reported that US President Donald Trump had rejected Netanyahu‘s plan to strike infrastructure and nuclear facilities in Iran, a military campaign that was reportedly set to begin on Oct. 10.
Trump opposes any military escalation ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm congressional elections in the US, fearing negative repercussions for the Republican Party‘s electoral prospects, according to the report.
Golan, also a former deputy chief of staff of the Israeli army, said in a post on US social media platform X: „Netanyahu is a sick and weak leader clinging to power by force, willing to put Israel‘s security at risk to save himself.“
The two issues the opposition has highlighted are understandably important to Israelis. For so many citizens, the disaster of 7 October and subsequent two-year hostage crisis became a crisis of faith in the state itself. Without accountability through an independent inquiry, society cannot move on. And even staunch supporters of peace cannot tolerate the rank injustice of some citizens serving and dying in wars while others are systematically let off the hook.
But what then? Israel’s war in response to 7 October has continued to devastate Palestinian society. But the past few years have damaged Israel internally as well.
(…)
אנחנו לא שתקנו, לא שותקים ולא נשתוק. הם מציעים עוד השמדה. אנחנו מציעים חיים.
لم نصمت، لا نصمت، ولن نصمت. هم يطرحون المزيد من الإبادة. ونحن نطرح الحياة.
לאתר המשותפת: https://jointlist.org.il/he/
إلى موقع المشتركة: https://jointlist.org.il/ar/
יש אפשרות אחרת · هنالك خيار آخر
After three years in which the scale of destruction in Gaza has remained largely hidden from the Israeli public, the Joint List has dedicated its election campaign ad to showing the reality that has been kept off Israeli screens. The ad was also aired on Israel television.
With the support of the German government, Israel is committing genocide in Palestine. Day after day, innocent people continue to be systematically killed. We refuse to allow this to continue and join the global Palestinian resistance against the colonial Zionist project. In cooperation with national and international groups, we have already staged peaceful, disruptive protests and will continue to do so until the German government ends its complicity in Israeli crimes against Palestinians.
Together, we stand against the crimes committed by the government and the arms industry!
Join us in peaceful resistance
Pro-Palestinian activists blocked entrances to several German arms manufacturing sites on Tuesday, protesting the country’s continued weapons exports to Israel, Anadolu reports.
The coordinated sit-ins were organized by the group Peacefully Against Genocide.
Protesters targeted multiple locations of weapons manufacturers, including Rheinmetall facilities and a General Dynamics site.
In Berlin, demonstrators staged a sit-in in front of Rheinmetall’s plant in Wedding.