Netanyahu’s election plan until September 2026 revealed: an attempt to escape the consequences of war and the service law.
The Israeli media outlet reported that Netanyahu intends to set the election date in a way that is both far from the passage of the controversial draft law and before the third anniversary of Operation October 7 (Al-Aqsa Storm), an event that is still a wound for the Israeli public (regime).
According to this plan, Netanyahu wants to pass the draft law for ultra-Orthodox Jews in September 2025, an issue that is very unpopular according to polls. With this timing, he is trying to create a one-year gap between the passage of the law and the election, reducing potential damage to public opinion and giving himself time to engineer the electoral atmosphere.
In a related development, Netanyahu’s Likud party yesterday (Wednesday) dismissed Yuli Edelstein, the head of the Knesset’s Foreign Policy and Security Committee, and replaced him with Boaz Bismuth by a majority of 29 votes.
Edelstein’s dismissal is being assessed due to his clear opposition to the military service exemption law, a move that was taken in order to appease the haredi parties and consolidate the current fragile coalition.
Edelstein noted during the voting session that this is not the first time he has been in the minority and referred to his previous opposition to the Gaza withdrawal plan over the past two decades.
Earlier, he had proposed an alternative to the military service law, proposing that exemptions be accompanied by personal and institutional penalties and that recruitment targets be increased with strict monitoring and enforcement mechanisms.
Analysts believe that these measures are part of Netanyahu’s careful electoral planning to maintain power, a program in which security concerns, social protests, and domestic political pressures are tied to his calculations.