Yisrael Beiteinu head Avigdor Liberman announces prime minister run in 2026, says Netanyahu is becoming ‘father of Iranian bomb’

Avigdor Liberman, the chairman of the Yisrael Beytenu party, announced Saturday that he would run for prime minister in the elections that are currently scheduled for 2026, during an interview on Channel 12.

“Clearly and unequivocally, yes,” Liberman replied after being asked if he would run.

Amid speculations that various political leaders could either join him or that his party could band together with other parties, he added: “We are running as Yisrael Beiteinu; anyone who wants to join me is welcome to reach out.”

Liberman also laid out several of the most important issues facing Israeli society today, according to his view.

He criticized the IDF draft law on which the government coalition is currently working, emphasizing, “There must be one conscription law for everyone. In my government, we will draft everyone. It cannot be that we mobilize 60,000 reserve soldiers and send them to the front, while deserters are sent home.”

He also reiterated his demand for significant penalties for those who evade the draft: “Anyone who is a draft dodger or evades service should have their voting rights revoked.”

In addition to the issue of drafting the ultra-Orthodox into the IDF, Liberman also said the hostage issue threatens to tear Israeli society apart.

“You cannot eliminate Hamas when you have people inside,” he said. “The dialogue with Hamas won’t quickly turn into peace, but we’ve been at war for a year and seven months and still haven’t managed to end the fighting.”

Liberman also spoke about recent reports of new tensions between the U.S. and Israel, particularly the separate ceasefire with the Houthis, which he called “An unprecedented low.”

He slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of relations with the Trump administration, charging that “the result is that instead of preventing a nuclear Iran, Netanyahu is becoming the father of the bomb – both Iranian and Saudi together.”

“It’s clear that we need to recalculate our path. Before we come with complaints against others, we need to look inward; we should have attacked Iran. While the Americans are negotiating with them, I don’t know if that’s possible,” he added.

According to the latest poll published by the Maariv newspaper on Friday, Liberman’s party would currently receive 17 mandates and become the second strongest party overall, making Liberman a likely candidate to lead a second anti-Netanyahu coalition as prime minister.

While Netanyahu’s Likud rose slightly to 23 seats, the prime minister’s bloc crashed to only 48 mandates. A majority requires 61 out of 120 Knesset seats.

Today's opposition parties would receive 62 seats, enough to form a government with the Arab parties, who stand at 10 mandates.

However, the poll also surveyed a potential, and likely, scenario in which former prime minister Naftali Bennett joined the race with a new party.

In this scenario, Liberman fell to only 10 seats, while Bennet’s party would win the elections with 24 mandates.