Netanyahu Admits He’s ‘Ready to Give the Keys to the Country’ to a Mystery Successor

Screenshot via Sky News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly said he’s “ready” to hand the reins of power to a successor — but didn’t reveal who he thought Israel’s next leader should be.

In an interview with Israeli journalist Sharon Gal of i24news, Netanyahu — who first took office in 1996 — also declined to say when he would step down.

“I think that there is someone to whom I am ready to give the keys to the country. I spoke to him about it, but I don’t want to designate a time,” Netanyahu said, according to the report.

However, as the Times of Israel pointed out, Israeli prime ministers do not appoint their successors.

The 76-year-old has served three terms as prime minister, including from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. His current term began in 2022.

Word that Netanyahu is thinking of the future came as critics in his Likud party sounded the alarm he may plan to cancel the party’s scheduled August primaries and instead create a committee to pick the party’s candidates, according to a report earlier this week cited by the Times of Israel.

Netanyahu raised the question of his country’s future as the war with Iran ramped up this week, with the United States resuming strikes against Iran.

Operation Epic Fury began Feb. 28 with joint airstrikes from Israel and the United States that killed the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu appeared on CNN and spoke to anchor Dana Bash, discussing the conflict and taking a wait-and-see attitude about Iran’s nuclear future and the results of President Donald Trump’s bid to keep the country from developing nukes.

“I think it’s too early to say what will happen. The president believes that he can stop Iran’s nuclear program, which is a nuclear program to create atomic bombs. He believes that he can do this through negotiations and various pressures,” he told Bash.

Bash asked, “Do you?” prompting Netanyahu to reply: “Look, I have my doubts, but I think he should be given the chance. And he’s trying to do—to achieve that. And we—it remains to be seen.”

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