Israel's Politics Heats Up: Will Netanyahu Be Ousted from the Likud Party or Emerge Stronger?

The question now circulating within the Likud Party is no longer limited to when the next election will be held, or whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is still capable of leading the right-wing bloc into a new political round. A far more sensitive question is now emerging: whether Netanyahu can reshape the Likud Party according to his wishes before the election takes place, or whether internal conflict will give birth to a new force that some Israeli politicians refer to as “Likud B”? Reports published by Israeli media such as Walla!, Maariv, and Israel Hayom, cited by Al Jazeera on Wednesday (13/5/2026), reveal that Netanyahu is now moving on three fronts simultaneously. These three fronts involve pressuring the party to give him a safe seat on the Likud legislative candidate list, attempting to control or delay the party’s internal preliminary elections, and keeping the option open to form an independent list if his demands are not met. In its report in Israel Hayom, political journalist Shirit Avitan Cohen wrote that Israel’s election schedule is no longer entirely a domestic decision. Netanyahu is said to be considering advancing the election from 27 October to 1 September. The reason is the increasingly fading security achievements of Israel and the deadlock in military operations in Gaza and Lebanon due to what the report calls limitations from Trump.