With the Gaza ceasefire settling, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing multiple challenges at the domestic and international levels, ranging from international isolation, coalition divisions to judicial prosecution, and the six-dimensional crisis shadows his path to the upcoming general election.
International isolation continues to deepen
According to Reuters on Saturday, October 18, Israel’s current level of isolation on the international stage has reached a historic peak, and Netanyahu is seen as the central driver of the situation.
In the past two years, Israel's military operations in Gaza have killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, and the famine that broke out there has aroused global public outrage. The international community's condemnation of Israel continues to rise. Unless Israel completely blocks the access of international journalists to Gaza, relevant negative reports will further consolidate its negative image.
Netanyahu's previous "super Sparta" idea, which plans to turn Israel into an economic diplomatic isolation and continuing preparation for war, has also caused market shocks: the Israeli stock markets have crashed, and the exchange rate of the shekel has dropped sharply.
The Israeli Business Forum, which represents the top 200 companies in the country, publicly rejected the statement, stating clearly "we are not Sparta", highlighting the strong dissatisfaction of the domestic business community with its policies.
The right coalition is in danger.
Since the outbreak of the war, Netanyahu's ruling coalition has relied on the support of far-right parties. Among them, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotritsch and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gwil have expressed their opposition to the ceasefire. Although they have not withdrawn from the alliance for the time being, cracks have emerged.
In response to a potential collapse of the coalition, Netanyahu plans to push for a special bill to exempt students from the military duty of extremist-Orthodox Jewish theological colleges, with the aim of drawing up extremist-Orthodox parties in parliament to ensure a majority in times of crisis.
The move has sparked dissatisfaction among the military and the public, and critics believe the policy will exacerbate social injustice.
International Court of Appeal
At present, the pressure from international judicial institutions to hold accountable is also hanging on Netanyahu's head. In November 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an international arrest warrant for war crimes against him. Former Defense Minister Yoaf Galante was also charged, and Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif was also listed, but was killed by Israel.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is also considering Israel's allegations of "genocide" in Gaza. It is widely believed that Netanyahu will bear the main responsibility if finally convicted.
There is currently no clear timetable for the ICC's trial, and the ICJ's judgment may not be released until the end of 2027 at the earliest. Once convicted, the ICC can sentence him to up to 30 years in prison, while the ICJ's sentence will be referred to the UN Security Council for execution.
U.S.-Israel alliance creates bad blood
As Israel's most important ally, the United States 'support attitude has undergone subtle changes. According to the New York Times, Trump was angry at Netanyahu's quick admission of Biden's victory in 2021 and briefly cut off contact in May 2024.
In September 2025, Israel's air strikes on Hamas negotiators in Doha triggered Trump's anger again, saying publicly that "he's ruining my diplomatic efforts."
Although the ceasefire in Gaza was promoted by Trump and declared in the Israeli Parliament that the agreement "can be maintained stably", external analysts believe that if Netanyahu breaks the ceasefire, Trump's support will be completely lost.
As Israel's main economic, military financier and diplomatic backer, the change in attitude of the United States may directly shake Netanyahu's ruling foundation.
October 7 attack investigation launched
The Israeli Supreme Court’s recent unanimous ruling requiring Netanyahu’s ruling coalition to respond within 30 days to a special investigation into the attacks of 7 October 2023 means the dismissal will be formally prosecuted.
Previous independent investigations of the military and intelligence departments have exposed a large number of vulnerabilities, resulting in 1139 deaths and about 250 kidnappings, the security department has no preparation, response to chaos, relevant officials have all resigned.
Netanyahu once resisted the investigation against the government on the grounds of "political bias" and "wartime unrealism", but the judicial ruling after the ceasefire left him no room to evade. This investigation may become an important turning point in his political career.
Corruption cases continue to ferment
Netanyahu has faced three independent corruption charges since 2019, involving fraud, breach of trust and bribery. The trial of the case has been postponed several times during wartime.
The prosecution accused him of accepting high-grade champagne, cigars and other valuable gifts from wealthy businessmen during his term of office, and providing convenience in media supervision policies in return. If convicted, the maximum penalty is 10 years' imprisonment.
When US President Trump visited Israel in October this year, he publicly called for "amnesty" in the Knesset, saying that it only involved "champagne and cigars". However, the Israeli judicial system emphasized that the nature of the case was a serious duty crime and was not subject to political interference.