Israel-Gaza war: top Benjamin Netanyahu rival calls for early elections

Netanyahu’s Likud party rejected the call, but it was welcomed by the leader of the US Senate who last month urged new elections in a strident criticism of Netanyahu’s handling of the war.

“When a leading member of Israel’s war cabinet calls for early elections and over 70 per cent of the Israeli population agrees according to a major poll, you know it’s the right thing to do,” Senator Chuck Schumer wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Early elections require the agreement of 61 elected officials, or the majority of deputies in the Knesset, where the Likud has the most seats without however having a majority.

Netanyahu’s Likud said elections while Israel is at war “would inevitably lead to paralysis” and harm the military’s fight in Gaza.

Demonstrations by opponents of Netanyahu have brought together thousands of people in recent weeks and particularly since Saturday, notably in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Protesters and the relatives of hostages taken on October 7 called for the resignation of the premier.

US Senate leader pushes for Israel elections, calls Netanyahu an obstacle to peace

According to the latest polls, in the event of early elections, Gantz would be well ahead Netanyahu, whose popularity has been declining since the unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7.

The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,170 Israelis and foreigners, mainly civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse count based on official data.

Palestinian militants took more than 250 hostages on October 7 and presently 130 remain in Gaza, including 34 who the army says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 32,975 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.