Opposition leaders call for early elections in Israel

Israeli War Minister Benny Gantz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main political rival, openly called for parliamentary elections in September, in a public conference on Wednesday (3).

“So that we can remain united and succeed in the tasks we face, the public must know that we will soon ask them once again to demonstrate their trust, that we will not ignore the catastrophe of October 7th and what occurred before that,” Gantz said. .

Gantz said he has notified the Israeli prime minister of his request, but declined to say whether he will leave the coalition if the government does not decide an election date. Gantz has been one of Netanyahu's most vocal opponents within the war cabinet.

Netanyahu’s Likud party urged Gantz to “stop engaging in petty politics” while Israel is at war. “The elections will now inevitably lead to paralysis, division, damage to the fighting in Rafah and fatal damage to the chances of a hostage deal,” the party said in a statement. “The government will continue until all war aims are achieved.”

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called for the current government to resign “as soon as possible” in response to Gantz’s statement. “The State of Israel cannot wait another six months for this terrible, dangerous and most failed government in the history of this country to go. This government should leave as soon as possible so we can bring back the hostages, allow citizens to return, win over Hamas, and ensure someone takes care of the Israeli middle class,” Lapid said in an X post on Wednesday.

This is not the first time that new elections have been called. Another minister, Gadi Eisenkot, also called for the same earlier this year, saying elections are important “to renew trust, as there is currently no trust”. There were also large public protests in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, a significant challenge to Netanyahu's increasingly combative leadership.