Israel’s longest-serving prime minister faces voters on Tuesday in what could be his toughest election battle yet.
Benjamin Netanyahu (77) built his career on a reputation for keeping Israelis safe. But Hamas’s attack on 7 October 2023 damaged that image, and now his main challenger — former military chief Gadi Eisenkot — runs level with him in the polls.
The campaign has turned bitter. Netanyahu’s posters across Israel carry a stark message: “Either the Right or Palestine.” He warns that hostile powers want him to lose and raises fears of a Palestinian state, which most Israelis oppose.
Campaign strategy amid multiple crises
Netanyahu faces pressure from several directions. An international arrest warrant accuses him of war crimes in Gaza. A corruption trial continues in the courts. And a conflict that started three years ago now involves multiple fronts.
Yet the prime minister tries to turn these wars into campaign assets. He points to military victories against Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran, which Israel attacked twice. Last week, after Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers near Hebron, Netanyahu launched a major military operation in the occupied West Bank.
US President Donald Trump endorsed Netanyahu 10 days before the vote, calling him “the man I want by my side”. Netanyahu has called Trump “the greatest friend Israel has ever had” in the White House.
From commando to prime minister
Netanyahu was born in Tel Aviv on 21 October 1949. His father, Benzion, worked for Zeev Jabotinsky, who led the “Revisionist” strand of Zionism that calls for a “Greater Israel”.
As a young man, Netanyahu served in an Israeli commando unit and fought in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. His brother Yonatan died leading the Entebbe hostage rescue mission in Uganda — a loss that shaped Netanyahu’s life. “When the news reached me that Yoni had died, I felt as if my life had ended,” he wrote.
He grew up partly in the United States and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His ease with American media made him one of Israel’s most visible spokesmen abroad.
Netanyahu entered parliament in 1988 and took over the Likud party in 1993. Three years later, he became prime minister at 46 — the youngest in Israeli history. He served from 1996 to 1999, returned from 2009 to 2021, and came back to power in late 2022.
Vision for the region
Netanyahu opposed the Israeli-Palestinian peace process of the 1990s, which aimed for a two-state solution. He now promotes a vision of Israel extending to Jordan and supports annexing parts of the occupied West Bank. He backs the growth of Israeli settlements, which break international law.
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For years, Netanyahu saw Hamas rule in Gaza as a way to divide Palestinians and weaken the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. The October 7 attack exposed the failures of this approach.
As the Gaza war widened, Netanyahu framed the conflict as a fight to reshape the region and end Iran’s influence. In recent months, he repeats that he “changed the face of the Middle East”.
Divided opinions
Supporters credit Netanyahu with responding to Israel’s worst attack with strong military action. They note he confronted Iran directly — something no previous Israeli leader had done.
Critics say his actions have trapped the country in endless conflicts and damaged its global standing.
Eisenkot, his rival, told public broadcaster Kan that Netanyahu “is unfit to remain in office. He spreads hatred, fear and portrays his rivals as enemies of Israel.”
Polls suggest Netanyahu cannot form a government on his own. But he has defied predictions of his downfall for decades.
On Channel 14, a private station that supports him, he recently declared the election decides “the continued existence of the Jewish state, and to guarantee that, you must vote for the person who will get the job done”.
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