JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he wants to run for another term in October despite the homeland backlash over the Iran war handling.
“Touched by your concern on whether I am running or not. I understand. I understand. So I want to reassure you. I am going to run and I also intend to win,” he said in a televised press conference.
Critics slammed the US-Iran agreement, saying it would not protect their country’s interests. The opposition accused him of failing to achieve the Hamas October 2023 attack on Israel’s war aims. 
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who is also running in the upcoming election, called the situation a “dangerous turn for Israel’s security”.
Netanyahu, of the Likud party, is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. He has led the country through years of war on numerous interconnected fronts and is now on trial for corruption, according to the AFP.
Over the weekend, the US and Iran agreed to a peace deal after US-Israeli strikes started dropping on Iran in late February. Netanyahu also announced that the joint military action by Israel and the US against Iran protected his country from a threat of “nuclear annihilation” and eliminated an existential threat to Israel. US President Donald Trump publicly questioned whether his close ally would run.
