Israel's Netanyahu says will run for PM in next year's election

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that he would run for office in the November 2026 elections and expected to win.

Appearing on a programme on the right-wing Channel 14, Netanyahu was asked whether he intended to seek another term. "Yes," he replied.

When pressed on whether he expected to win, the veteran leader responded: "Yes."

Leader of Likud, Israel's main right-wing party, Netanyahu holds the record for the longest time served as Israel’s prime minister -- more than 18 years in total, with interruptions, since 1996.

In the last elections, his Likud party won 32 seats in the Knesset, its ultra-Orthodox allies 18, and the Religious Zionism alliance 14, a record showing for the far right.

His current term began with a controversial judicial overhaul plan that sparked months of mass protests, with tens of thousands of Israelis taking to the streets almost daily.

Since the start of the war triggered by Hamas's unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack from Gaza, Netanyahu has also faced mounting criticism from families of hostages over his handling of the war.

© Agence France-Presse