More than seven million Israelis are heading to the polls today for the first parliamentary election since the attack on October 7, 2023, a vote that many view as a de facto referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s record in this deeply divided country.
These elections are taking place against a backdrop of intensifying international criticism over the conduct of the war in the Gaza Strip, settler violence, and the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank during the tenure of the most right-wing government in Israel’s history.
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The vote and its outcome will be closely watched abroad as well, as Mr. Netanyahu once again escalates his threats against Iran, raising the risk of an escalation of the regional conflict that has already had serious consequences around the world.
According to the latest polls, the right-wing and far-right coalition led by Mr. Netanyahu and the main opposition coalition led by the former head of the armed forces, the centrist Gadi Eizenkot, will be locked in a neck-and-neck race. Neither side, however, appears to be on track to secure a majority—61 seats—in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, which suggests lengthy negotiations will follow the vote.
Uriel Brandler, who works in real estate in Jerusalem, says she is “very, very stressed.” Today’s elections are among “the most important in Israel’s history,” says the 58-year-old, who hopes for “change for the better on all levels.”
Media outlets are expecting record voter turnout, given the significance of the election.
Tens of thousands of Israelis living abroad have returned to the country to vote, while the Israeli Arab minority—which makes up 20% of the population and feels it is facing discrimination more than ever— appears mobilized and determined to show the current government the door.
The approximately 7.3 million voters can cast their ballots from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. (Greek time). The major television networks will broadcast projections on the election’s outcome immediately afterward, pending the official results in the days that follow.
The extent of the polarization in Israeli society following the attacks of October 7, 2023, is evident in the fact that both rival coalitions are presenting the election as a matter of existential . For different reasons, of course.
Benjamin Netanyahu, 77 years old—19 of which he has spent as head of government, longer than any of his predecessors—is trying to convince the public that only he can guarantee Israel’s security, despite the failure of October 7, 2023, by highlighting the blows he has dealt to Hamas in the Gaza Strip and to Hezbollah in Iran. He also promises, if he remains in power, to “finish the job” in Iran.
At the same time, his far-right ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, have presented plans to expel the Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.
Zipora Bennett, an 85-year-old retiree and resident of Jerusalem, says she will vote for Mr. Netanyahu because “he isn’t afraid to take the initiative” and also has “the support of the U.S. government.”
Donald Trump reiterated his support this week for Benjamin Netanyahu’s bid to remain in power.
For the prime minister’s opponents, this election is seen as crucial to saving Israeli democracy, as Mr. Netanyahu—who is facing trials on corruption charges— continues to attack the judiciary.
The former chief of the General Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces, Mr. Eisenkot, ran a more low-key campaign than the outgoing prime minister, seeking to project an image of seriousness, and he promises to “unite all Israelis once again.”
His coalition, which includes former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, as well as veterans of the Israeli political arena such as Avigdor Lieberman and Yair Golan, also promises to establish an investigative committee to assign responsibility for the security lapses that led to the attack on October 7, 2023.
Or Horning, a 39-year-old tech worker in Tel Aviv, hopes the country will turn the page on “the wars, terrorist attacks, all these wounds, and the biggest security scandal in Israel’s history,” as he views the Hamas attack that sparked the war in the Gaza Strip.
“We deserve a country that (…) isn’t despised by the whole world and that takes care of its citizens.” Something “that isn’t happening today,” he says.
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Source: APE-MPE
