Netanyahu plans 'broad national govt' after Israel vote

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared his intention Saturday to form a broader coalition after the upcoming election, explicitly distancing himself from both the far-right and the left.

Netanyahu, the country's longest serving prime minister across multiple terms, has already announced that he plans to run in the national elections to be held no later than October 27.

"I intend to establish a broad national government, not a right-wing government, not a left-wing government that depends on Arab parties, but a broad national government," Netanyahu said, in a televised briefing, signalling a significant shift in his political strategy.

"Because only in this way, I think, can we reach internal agreements ... It means, first of all: enough with boycotts. I am not boycotting anyone. I say, everyone will be able to join; they simply need to agree to our basic principles, that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people and that we respect individual rights," he added.

Netanyahu's remarks come as he himself -- currently heading one of the most right wing government in Israel's history -- has been polling badly in recent surveys.

By reaching across the aisle, Netanyahu appears to be trying to reframe his electoral pitch around national unity rather than ideological alignment.

A recent survey showed that a majority of Israelis want him to leave office.

Public opinion is critical of the war that Israel and the US launched on Iran in late February, whose ceasefire talks Israel was left out of, leading to a deal between Tehran and Washington viewed by many as unfavourable to Israel.

A recent poll by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found that more than 92 percent of Israelis believe Iran had won the war, and support for Netanyahu's premiership plummeted from 40.5 percent in early March to 29.4 percent in June.

Public anger also lingers over the security failures surrounding the October 7 attacks, continuing to weigh on his standing.

Netanyahu's current coalition has also been shaken by a bitter dispute over whether ultra-Orthodox Jewish men should serve in the military.

Key allies have repeatedly threatened to topple the government unless their constituents are exempted from the draft, while the Israeli military and much of the public argue that broad enlistment is necessary, after years of wars have left the armed forces stretched thin.

Netanyahu said the government that he envisages forming after elections would help complete Israel's broader regional ambitions.

"After we have removed the Iranian existential threat, the broad national government can make peace within ourselves, deal with the remnants of the Iranian axis and reap the fruits of our victory in political agreements like the one we are making with Lebanon - and there are a few more on the way," he said.

"This simply allows us to do what I promised to do on the second day of the war - to change the face of the Middle East," he added, referring to his announcement made in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas that triggered the war in Gaza.

Netanyahu's remarks suggest he intends to use Israel's military campaign against Iran and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah as the centrepiece of his election narrative, pivoting from a fragile ideological coalition to a broader, security-anchored governing mandate.

However, his proposal drew immediate push-back from within his own camp.

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir criticised his "very disturbing" remarks, saying: "The government that Prime Minister Netanyahu must form should be a fully right-wing government."