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Summary

The party said in a brief statement that Netanyahu will run in the elections and is likely to win. The election date has not been officially announced yet, but it must be held by next October. The elections will be the first since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which constituted the worst security failure for Israel, which responded by launching a military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

Israel's Likud party said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the party's leader, will seek to run in elections again this year, after US President Donald Trump said he was unsure whether Netanyahu would run again.

The party said in a brief statement that Netanyahu will run in the elections and is likely to win. The election date has not been officially announced yet, but it must be held by next October.

Jonathan Karl, chief Washington correspondent for ABC News, said on X that Trump told him he does not know whether Netanyahu will run. Karl quoted Trump as saying, 'I don't know. His career has been amazing. Does he want to continue?'

The elections will be the first since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which constituted the worst security failure for Israel, which responded by launching a military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu's tenure has been marked by turmoil since he returned to power in December 2022 at the head of a coalition government that is the most right-wing in Israel's history. He faced mass protests against the government before the wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.

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Polls have repeatedly indicated that Netanyahu's coalition government will not be able to win a majority in the next elections. A poll published by the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem-based research center, on June 9 of this month showed that 61 percent of Israelis believe he should not run.

But polls also show that any potential coalition of opposition parties would not secure a parliamentary majority unless it forms a coalition with Arab parties, which some opposition leaders have ruled out.

US and Israeli officials said the relationship between Trump and Netanyahu remains close despite occasional tensions, such as in recent weeks when Trump demanded Israel curb its military actions in Lebanon while Washington negotiates a peace deal with Tehran.

Trump acknowledged last week that he called Netanyahu 'crazy' in a tense phone call, but also said their relationship is good. Trump has repeatedly called on Israel's president to pardon Netanyahu of corruption charges that are being heard in court and which Netanyahu denies.

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More about: Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump, Likud party, Israeli elections, Israel