Do we like Benjamin Netanyahu?
Our score: 3 out of 10. Real questions on both tests, with the ICC warrants and the trial unresolved, and we found little verified good to set against them.
Netanyahu leads Likud and has been at the centre of Israeli politics for so long that a war, a trial and an election all run through the one name. Our sources are thin on his early life, so we won't pretend to a full backstory here. What we can say is what the last few months show: he is still fighting for the top job, and still fighting in court.
The trial is the big personal stain. He was charged in 2019 with fraud and breach of trust in three cases, plus bribery in the Bezeq-Walla case, over alleged gifts from rich friends and alleged favours for friendlier press coverage. He denies wrongdoing and calls it a witch-hunt by rivals and the media. His testimony ended in June 2026 after 98 hearings; closing arguments come next, and then judges write a verdict.
Then there's Gaza. In November 2024 the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him, finding reasonable grounds that he bore responsibility for starvation as a method of war, among other alleged crimes. Prosecutors said aid to civilians was blocked for six months after 8 October 2023. He called the charges false and absurd and the court biased; no court has convicted him of anything.
On the harm test, here's what we could actually verify. In 2018 he backed out of a pledge to support a clause that would have let gay male couples have children through surrogates, reportedly after pressure from ultra-Orthodox coalition partners, and tens of thousands protested. We found nothing from him on climate or women either way, so that's a gap rather than a pass. The Gaza warrants are the heavier question for anyone who cares about civilians.
The latest big stoush was Iran. In June an interim US-Iran deal, which Israel wasn't a party to, drew anger across the Israeli spectrum, with Ehud Barak and Yair Lapid blaming Netanyahu. He said the deal was America's doing and that he refused Iran's demand to pull out of Lebanon because he stood very, very firm. Ahead of the vote he told i24NEWS the race was tied and claimed enemies of Israel wanted him to lose.
Where does that leave the election? Al Jazeera reports the count is done with no majority for either side, and says Likud's claims that Arab-led parties stole the vote have been rejected. The election committee head said he couldn't verify a letter alleging foreign interference and asked the Shin Bet to look into it. Eisenkot has said he won't partner with the Arab-led parties, so a deadlock or another election is possible.