Benjamin Netanyahu in the context of "October 2025 ceasefire"

On March 25, 2019, the United States officially recognized the Golan Heights as being under the sovereignty of Israel. Signed into effect by the Trump administration, the U.S. presidential proclamation marked the first instance of any country recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights; the territory is viewed as part of Syria under international law, though it has been under an Israeli military occupation since the 1967 Arab–Israeli War. In 1981, Israel's government passed the Golan Heights Law — a de facto annexation of the territory.

Israeli officials lobbied the United States into recognizing "Israeli sovereignty" over the territory. The U.S. recognition was seen as a political gift from American president Donald Trump, in a bid to help Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu gain a favorable standing among voters in the then-upcoming April 2019 legislative election. It was condemned by a number of countries and organizations, including the United Nations and the European Union (see § Reactions). The Syrian government rejected the U.S. statement, describing it as a "blatant attack" on Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The recognition continued under the successor Biden administration.

A hostages-and-prisoners exchange and armistice between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip took effect from 19 January to 18 March 2025, during the Gaza war. It included eight rounds of hostages-and-prisoners exchanges between Israel and Hamas.

The initial proposal was a serial initiative in three stages, beginning with a six-week ceasefire and including the release of all Israelis being held hostage in Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians being held by Israel, an end to the war, Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and a reconstruction process that would last from three to five years. The proposal was first drafted by mediators from the United States, Egypt, and Qatar, accepted by Hamas on 5 May 2024, and presented by U.S. president Joe Biden on 31 May. On 10 June, the United Nations Security Council supported it as Resolution 2735. Later in 2024, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was accused of hindering the proposal while some US officials accused Hamas of the same. After he was elected, United States president-elect Donald Trump joined Biden in pressuring the Israeli side to accept a similar proposal. A variation of the proposal was agreed to by Israel and Hamas on 15 January 2025. On 17 January, the deal was signed by its negotiators, and it was approved by the Israeli security cabinet and later the full Israeli cabinet.

In the early hours of 18 March 2025, Israel launched a surprise attack on the Gaza Strip, effectively ending the January 2025 Gaza war ceasefire. Israel's missile and artillery attack killed more than 400 Palestinians, including 263 women and children according to the Gaza Health Ministry, making it one of the deadliest in the Gaza war. Codenamed Operation Might and Sword (Hebrew: מבצע עוז וחרב, Mivtza Oz VaḤerev) by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), it was carried out in coordination with the United States. The next day, the Israeli military announced that it was conducting a ground offensive to retake the Netzarim Corridor, from which it had withdrawn in February.

On 17 January, a deal for a 42-day ceasefire was achieved, with the deal, which also calls for the release of Israeli hostages, then being approved by Israel's security cabinet in an afternoon vote. Later in the day, the deal was given full cabinet approval and signed by its negotiators. Under the agreement, all Israeli hostages would be released by the end of the second phase and the Gaza war would permanently end. After the first phase ended on 1 March, Hamas intended to move to the second phase of negotiations – as envisioned in the original ceasefire deal – while Netanyahu and the Trump administration insisted on renegotiating the overall terms. Israel also refused to withdraw from sites in the Gaza Strip, despite the fact that it had agreed to do so in the ceasefire agreement. Further, during the ceasefire, Israel killed more than 140 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. In March, Israel prevented all food and medicine from entering Gaza; later it shut off electricity to the Gaza Strip's main desalination plant, effectively cutting off water. These actions have been deemed war crimes by aid organizations and human rights organizations, including Médecins Sans Frontières and Amnesty International.

The Gaza peace plan is a multilateral agreement between Israel and Hamas that aims to address the ongoing Gaza war and broader Middle Eastern crisis. Led by United States president Donald Trump, it was negotiated in consultation with many Arab and Muslim countries. The plan was announced by Trump on September 29, 2025, during a press conference at the White House alongside Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It was signed on October 9, coming into effect the following day, and was endorsed by the United Nations Security Council on 17 November.

After the 2005 Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip Hamas won elections in 2006 and formed a government, first alone and then in a grand coalition with Fatah, but later seized Gaza in 2007. Since then, repeated clashes with Israel have escalated into major conflicts, culminating in the October 7 attacks by Hamas in 2023, which triggered a large-scale Israeli military campaign and genocide in Gaza. Interim ceasefires in late 2023 and early 2025 collapsed.

The prime minister of Israel (Hebrew: רֹאשׁ הַמֶּמְשָׁלָה, romanized: Rosh HaMemshala, lit. 'Head of the Government', Hebrew abbreviation: רה״מ‎; Arabic: رئيس الحكومة, romanized: Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma) is the head of government and chief executive of the State of Israel.

Israel is a parliamentary republic with a president as the head of state. The president's powers are largely ceremonial, while the prime minister holds the executive power. The official residence of the prime minister, Beit Aghion, is in Jerusalem. The current prime minister is Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud, the ninth person to hold the position (excluding caretakers).

Early legislative elections were held in Israel on 9 April 2019 to elect the 120 members of the 21st Knesset. Elections had been due in November 2019, but were brought forward following a dispute between members of the current government over a bill on national service for the Haredi population, as well as impending corruption charges against incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu's Likud tied with Blue and White alliance of Benny Gantz, both winning 35 seats. The balance of power was held by smaller parties, with a majority being right-wing and religious parties that had previously sat in coalition with Likud, which would have allowed Netanyahu to form the next government.

On December 6, 2017, the United States of America officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital city of the State of Israel. American president Donald Trump, who signed the presidential proclamation, also ordered the relocation of the American diplomatic mission to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, constituting what is now the Embassy of the United States in Jerusalem, which was established on the grounds of the former Consulate General of the United States in Jerusalem. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the decision and praised the announcement by the Trump administration. On December 8, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson clarified that Trump's statement "did not indicate any final status for Jerusalem" and "was very clear that the final status, including the borders, would be left to the two parties to negotiate and decide" in reference to the recognition's impact on the Israeli–Palestinian peace process.

Trump's decision was rejected by the vast majority of world leaders; the United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting on December 7, where 14 out of 15 members condemned it, but the motion was overturned by U.S. veto power. The United Kingdom, France, Japan, Italy, and Sweden were among the countries who criticized Trump's decision at the meeting. Other countries supported the move; Guatemala affirmed their intent to issue a follow-up on the U.S. recognition and relocate their diplomatic mission to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, and the Czech Republic, Honduras, Paraguay, and Romania stated that they were also considering the same course of action. Italian politician Federica Mogherini, as the foreign policy chief of the European Union (EU), stated that all EU member countries were united on the issue of Jerusalem—she reaffirmed the EU's firm stance on East Jerusalem being the capital of an independent Palestinian state. By late 2022, only Guatemala, Honduras, and Kosovo had established diplomatic missions to Israel in Jerusalem; Paraguay reversed their 2018 decision within months, and the Honduran foreign ministry has since stated that they are considering a reversal of their decision as well.

The Cabinet of Israel (Hebrew: ממשלת ישראל, romanized: Memshelet Yisra'el; Arabic: مجلس وزراء إسرائيل, romanized: Majlis Wuzaraʾ Israʾil) is the cabinet which exercises executive authority in the State of Israel. It consists of ministers who are chosen and led by the prime minister. The composition of the government must be approved by a vote of confidence in the Knesset (the Israeli parliament). Under Israeli law, the prime minister may dismiss members of the government but must do so in writing, and new appointees must be approved by the Knesset. Most ministers lead ministries, though some are ministers without portfolio. Most ministers are members of the Knesset, though only the Prime Minister and the "designated acting prime minister" are required to be Knesset members. Some ministers are also called deputy and vice-prime ministers. Unlike the designated acting prime minister, these roles have no statutory meanings. The government operates in accordance with the Basic Law. It meets on Sundays weekly in Jerusalem. There may be additional meetings if circumstances require it. The current head of government, the prime minister, is Benjamin Netanyahu.

Unlike most cabinets in parliamentary regimes, the Israeli cabinet–officially described in the Basic Laws as the "Government"–is both the de jure and de facto executive authority in Israel. In most parliamentary regimes, the head of state is nominal chief executive, while bound by convention to act on the advice of the cabinet. In Israel, the Basic Laws explicitly vest executive power in the cabinet/Government, not the President.