22 June 2022; MEMO: Benjamin Netanyahu is planning his return to power through Israel's General Election, which will most likely take place in October, but close aides have said that he is thinking about making this the last time that he tries to be prime minister. This will be the country's fifth General Election in less than four years.
Netanyahu is apparently hoping to be able to hand the state over to his eventual successor in the best possible condition in terms of security and the economy, Walla news website has reported. He is said to have pointed to Iran's nuclear programme and the economic situation in the light of the global price crisis and expected inflation in the coming months as the main issues. However, senior officials in the former prime minister's offices have denied such reports, said Quds Net News.
Media reports have tended to focus on Netanyahu's promise that this will be the last time that he stands for election, and ignored his other promises made to attract floating voters so that he can control the minimum 61 Knesset seats required for a majority government.
Quds Net News believes that Netanyahu is running in the election on two fronts. He will use MKs Dudi Amsalem and Meri Regev to address the right wing, while Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir will address religious Zionists and extreme right-wingers.
