Israeli Politicsupdated 1h ago2 min read
Archive photo · 11 March 2024Israel Heads To Polls Oct. 27 As Netanyahu’s Grip On Power Faces Gadi Eisenkot Challenge
“Protesters demanded an independent commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the attack.”
“Netanyahu’s election strategy in its most naked form: Fear.”
Photo: Chenspec, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped for layout
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Netanyahu faces challenge from Gadi Eisenkot in the Oct. 27 election. Most consequential election in Israel's history, referendum on Netanyahu's leadership.
Election Looms Oct 27
Israel is heading to the polls on October 27 in an election that could end Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s long grip on power, with the vote for all 120 seats in the Knesset described as the first since the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023. The election is the first national vote since the October 7 attack and it will test whether Israel keeps moving in the nationalistic, conservative and religious direction or changes course. Tens of thousands marched in Tel Aviv demanding Netanyahu’s government answer for the failures that led to the October 7 attack.
In the remote Negev Desert town of Dimona, disenchanted voters were going door-to-door campaigning for centrist Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar, hoping to bring down Netanyahu. Netanyahu’s campaign has become tighter as the election nears, with Eisenkot having no clear path to power either, and with the race described as neck-and-neck in the polls.
Coalitions, Polls, and Protest
Thousands gathered in Tel Aviv at Hostages Square for a final protest against Netanyahu and his government ahead of what it described as the most consequential election in the country’s history. Yossi Assayag told Reuters, "Bibi has to go," and said Netanyahu had "brought disaster to Israel." Margalit Moses said, "I hope people will understand that we have to change the government" so the new government would be more middle or a little bit left.
Opinion polls suggested Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc is in a close race against a Jewish-led opposition alliance, with the opposition bloc projected to win 52 seats compared with 50 for Netanyahu’s religious-nationalist alliance. Polls suggest neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor the opposition is likely to win a majority alone and that the vote may launch Israel’s next political crisis rather than settle it.
War Costs and Security Stakes
L’Nahar, via LʼNahar in an interview with economist Saif Qadoora, said defense spending reached 8% of GDP and that public debt rose from 60% of GDP in 2022 to about 70%. Saif Qadoora told LʼNahar that the real problem was that spending was "consuming a much larger share of economic resources." Al Jazeera said Palestinian-led parties could determine who governs because Israel’s proportional representation system means parties must negotiate alliances to secure a governing majority in the Knesset.
Reuters said Netanyahu’s campaign has become tighter as the election nears, with Eisenkot having no clear path to power either, and with the race described as neck-and-neck in the polls. Eyal Dror, a lieutenant-colonel reservist who returned from a tour of Lebanon, said, "I pray and hope that there is a new government" and called the coalition "one of the worst coalitions that we have ever had in Israel."
