In Israel, the centrist National Unity Party, led by war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, announced on Thursday that it had introduced a bill to dissolve the 25th Knesset (parliament) and hold an early election.
This move comes amid ongoing tensions and political disagreements within the Israeli government.
“The head of the National Union Party, Pnina Tamano-Shata, has put forward a bill to dissolve the 25th Knesset. This follows the request of party leader Minister Benny Gantz to move forward in broad agreement to an election before October, a year since the massacre,” the party said in a statement.
This announcement from the National Unity Party was swiftly countered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party, which expressed strong opposition to the proposal.
Likud said: “The dissolution of the unity government is a reward for (Hamas Gaza leader Yahya) Sinwar, a capitulation to international pressure and a fatal blow to efforts to free our hostages.”
Currently, the next election is scheduled for the final quarter of 2026. Likud has previously argued that holding an election earlier could undermine the military’s efforts against Hamas in Gaza.
Tensions have been high within the Israeli government, particularly following the devastating Gaza conflict sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel. This attack resulted in the deaths of 1,189 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Additionally, militants took 252 hostages, of whom 121 remain in Gaza, including 37 who the army says are dead.
In the wake of the attack, Israel launched a retaliatory offensive that, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, has resulted in the deaths of at least 36,224 people in Gaza, mostly civilians.
On May 18, Gantz escalated the internal political struggle by threatening to resign from the war cabinet unless Prime Minister Netanyahu approved a post-war plan for Gaza. He emphasized the need for a strategic action plan by June 8 to address six national goals, including the toppling of Hamas, maintaining Israeli security control over the Palestinian territory, and securing the release of Israeli hostages.
“The war cabinet must formulate and approve by June 8 an action plan that will lead to the realisation of six strategic goals of national importance… (or) we will be forced to resign from the government,” Gantz said, referring to his party, in a televised address directed at Netanyahu.
Among these goals, Gantz highlighted the importance of establishing an international administration to manage civil affairs in Gaza and the normalization of ties with Saudi Arabia as part of a broader alliance against Iran and its affiliates.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has also criticized Netanyahu for not explicitly ruling out an Israeli occupation of Gaza following the conflict. The political landscape remains fraught with divisions as Israel navigates its post-war strategy and internal governance challenges.
