Media: Israeli PM may call early elections amid Iran conflict

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may hold early parliamentary elections to capitalise on rising support amid the conflict with Iran and avoid voting in the fall, when the country will remember the victims of the October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks.

Netanyahu is reluctant to hold elections too close to the anniversary of the attacks, to prevent campaigns from focusing on the creation of an investigative commission, which many Israelis are demanding, Al-Monitor reports, citing sources in the Knesset.

“It is clear the prime minister will focus his campaign on what has been achieved in the war with Iran,” one source told the outlet.

The report notes that the Israeli leader may seek to gain political advantage from the current successes of strikes against Iran, fearing that the continuation of the operation might not produce further results.

According to the current schedule, elections in October 2026 could again raise questions about Netanyahu’s government, which allowed the October 7 attacks to occur.

By Khagan Isayev