In just a few weeks, Benjamin Netanyahu will reach a cumulative total of 18 years as Israel’s prime minister. Thanks to his political maneuvering skills and alliance with supremacists, he hopes to remain prime minister until October 2026, when the current four-year term of the Knesset, Israel’s unicameral parliament, will end.

Column How Benjamin Netanyahu became the self-proclaimed leader of the ‘civilized world’

Such stability contrasted sharply with the chaotic succession of five snap elections held between April 2019 and November 2022.

The politician’s remarkable longevity is based on a proven formula for achieving a majority of 61 out of 120 seats in the Knesset. This formula included securing around 30 seats for his party, Likud; maintaining an alliance with two ultra-Orthodox parties that consistently control about 15 seats; and shoring up a parliamentary majority with an additional 15 lawmakers currently drawn from the far-right supremacist bloc.

Netanyahu had also always been careful to prevent the rise of any personality who could challenge him from within the Likud.

The ‘transfer’ of Gaza’s population

Now over 75 years old, he has seen ambitions sharpening within his own party. The most serious contender at this point is Israel Katz, who is six years his junior. Katz owes his career to the prime minister, who since 2009 has entrusted him with the portfolios of transport, intelligence, energy, finance and twice foreign affairs.

Netanyahu appointed him as defense minister in November 2024 to replace former general Yoav Gallant, due to his loyalty and tenacity as Israel’s foreign minister. While Gallant believed the Israeli army had achieved its military objectives in Gaza months earlier, Katz revived Netanyahu’s rhetoric about achieving “total victory” over Hamas. Katz further solidified this hardline stance by establishing a “special agency for the voluntary departure of Gaza’s residents” within his ministry.

Katz is actively promoting the “transfer” of Gaza’s population to distance himself from his mentor, Netanyahu, who is bound by certain rhetorical constraints. Already a vocal advocate for annexing the West Bank, Katz is counting on the popularity of supremacist ideas within the Likud party, given that over 80% of Israeli Jews supported expelling Gaza’s residents.

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