Thoughts on Israeli elections?

[mids2019]

https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/israels-election-and-eisenkots-arab-coalition-dilemma/

With a very complicated Islraeli election about to take place there is some possibility that a new Israeli prime minister may have to form sort of coalition with Arab parties to form a government.

It will be interesting to see how all those that have the Israeli government in the anti Israel community will react to a government which may include those of Arab hertiage. Will the pro Palsstinains continue to hate the Israeli government or simply he Jews in part of it?

Quote "It will be interesting to see how all those that have the Israeli government in the anti Israel community will react to a government which may include those of Arab hertiage. "

Goodness me. If a person's "heritage" is an issue when it comes to being in government, is that not getting into apartheid territory?

It makes absolutely no difference who is in the government. If the brutal occupation continues then people will continue to demonstrate against it and fight for Palestinian rights.

Israeli elections seem so complicated (proportional representation).

According to a new poll by the Times of Israel's sister site, opposition frontrunner Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party has opened up a significant lead over Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, but neither camp is projected to win a majority in the Knesset.

The biggest change in the new poll is that it shows Yashar winning 26 seats compared to 20 for Likud. Last week, the gap was 24 to 20.

Coming in third in today’s poll is former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s opposition B’Yachad party with 11, followed by the hawkish opposition Yisrael Beytenu with nine.

Next are four parties with eight seats each: the Haredi Shas and United Torah Judaism, both of which support Netanyahu; the left-wing Democrats; and the Arab-led Joint List.

Then come two far-right, pro-Netanyahu parties: Otzma Yehudit with seven and Religious Zionism with six.

The Arab-led, historically Islamist Ra’am would win five, followed by the Reservists with four.

Two parties would fall short of the 3.25% of votes needed to enter the Knesset: Winter’s People of Israel, with 2.8%, and Benny Gantz’s centrist Blue and White, with 1.2%.

The poll was conducted on October 14 and 15 and surveyed a total sample of 500 respondents with a margin of error of ±4.4%.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/toi-poll-eisenkot-opens-up-big-lead-on-netanyahu-but-both-blocs-short-of-majority/

Complex indeed.

I saw an article in the Guardian basically blaming young Israelis for not toeing the party line in terms of the global youth vote i.e. towards the left. Fear is a big motivation for the Israeli vote it seems but maybe it was ever thus.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m003375k

It seems to intrigue the media why new generations of Israelis aren't following their counterparts in other countries but to me it is fairly obvious. A lot of October 7th victims were young hopeful Israelis and their fates must have been seared into their conciousness . Israelis want security at a most basic political level.

My concern would be that as Israel is a democracy there will those with the advent of a new government will start to not only criticise the Israeli government but the people themselves (who voted). The hatred shown to Israelis will again diffuse to Jews world wide. So sad.

That looks like it will be an interesting programme - thank you.

Shaina Oppenheimer reports from Israel asking why young Jewish Israelis are more likely to identify with the political right than Gen Z voters in many other countries.

Tbh It feels a bit sad to me when young people identify with the political right - I tend to believe the old saying that it's more "normal" to identify as left wing when we're young (full of hope and optimism) and then move more towards the centre or right wing as we age.

As you say though, in the case of young Israelis (especially those voting for the first time since 7/10/23) it's understandable why they would be more right wing than Gen Z voters in other countries.

People often talk about young Palestinians getting radicalised by the war but that works both ways with the violence inflicted upon (predominantly young) Israelis during the Hamas massacre. Security & defence will be their first priority now.

@Twiglets1 most people’s political attitudes mostly tend to stay stable over time. So it’s not typical or average to become more conservative- it does happen to a minority.

Gen Z is likely to be more left. But it’s predictable as you say, because of their experiences that Israeli youth will have a more right wing view.

How does age influence voting behaviour?

There is a link between age and voting behaviour. As people age they are more likely to be at the top of their earnings so they are more likely to favour traditional Conservative policies such as lower taxation on higher earners, therefore showing links with Social Class. In the 2019 general election, 67% of voters nationally who were aged over 70-years old voted Conservative, whereas 56% of 18-24 year olds voted Labour.

According to YouGov, age is the biggest dividing line in British politics and has been in the EU referendum and both 2017 and 2019 general elections. They say that ‘for every 10 years older a voter is, their chance of voting Tory increased by around nine points, and the chance of them voting Labour decreases by eight points’. The age at which voters tend to switch from Labour to Conservative was 39 in the 2019 election.

www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zd9bd6f/revision/4

I suppose being young in Israel will be different to other developed countries and I wonder if young Israelis feel having left wing views as a luxury they simply can't afford? Ask a typical 19 in the UK about politics and they are probably apathetic but in Israel I guess you grow up with omnipresent existential threat. We wander out streets without fear of rocket attack and are not used to cities with bomb shelters in a lot of buildings so in a sense we are very much remote from the young Israeli experience. It's not helped when you look at other countries and there are calls for your country to not exist......i

Why wouldn’t you blame those that vote in their government? It’s not as if you don’t know what you’re getting.

Being left is a luxury now ? So lets forget the centuries of struggle for all those lefty things such as human rights, employment rights, sex equality etc. All those things the right want to remove.

Anyway, Israel do lead the way on one lefty system. The Kibbutz.

I guess even if you were left wing economically you would want to be damn sure your country was secure and could deal with enemies who simply wished to kill you (or worse). Maybe is a misnomer to say you are right wing when you simply wish your country to be secure and your enemies not in a position to attack you.

That's the worry. People start blaming Israelis as a whole because they vote in a manner pro Palestinians don't like. When it comes to the vitriol emerging from this group it will be directed to the country as a whole not just the government. I have seen a lot of drift from criticism of the Israeli government to criticism of Israel itself.

You do remember the USSR were left wing? And nations such as the PRC and Vietnam still are.

Like Palestinians were blamed for voting in Hamas . Lots of vitriol on this site saying exactly this over the past couple of years.

Can't have double standards, if it is Palestinians fault for voting in Hamas then the policies of the Israeli government are the "fault" of the Israelies that vote them in.

A government's primary role is to protect its citizens and keep society running smoothly through a "social contract.". A government should provide:
Safety and Defense
Justice and Laws
Infrastructure
Public Services
Economic Stability

Quite a bit of difference in voting for a terrorist organisation with Charter to annihilate a much stronger neighbour with a long history of the deliberate targeting of civilians in suicide bombings, shooting and stabbing rampages, car rammings, the use of child soldiers and civilians as human shields, the torture and murder of dissenters etc. In essence, an OFFENSIVE force, which comes secondary to the basic role of a government as above.

AND

People voting in a Government with the basic provisions as above already in place to a high standard so with their main focus on protecting it's citizens from the clear and evidenced risk of the terrorist organisation and it's supporters.

If I was voting in the Israeli elections, I would be voting for a Government which will not allow a Palestinian State to be formed because I would only care about my family's safety and my children's future.

Not that Jew haters/dumb morons on a fashionable bandwagon, thousands of miles away sitting on their comfy sofas getting riled up by terrorist propaganda, (as intended), without living with rocket attacks, Oct 7th massacres, terrorist attacks and bomb shelters, want the poor Palestinians to have free reign to murder me and my family under the fallacy of 'justified resistance'.

That literally proves the point.

If Palestinians are responsible for Hamas then Israelis are also responsible for the government they get , "I would be voting for a Government which will not allow a Palestinian State to be formed" which would hypothetically be your right. (None of the leaders of the 8 parties support a Palestinian state anyway).

Just as you say Palestinians were aware of the charter of Hamas, Israelies are aware of the policies of death, destruction, displacement, settlement and blockade of any political party they may vote in.

Just as you criticise Palestinians Israelies can therefore expect similar treatment with their choices from those with opposing views.

Desperately grabbing at straws there or being grotesquely obtuse?

What were Israeli policies before the war the Palestinians started?

Please explain why Israelis in general should want a Palestinian State after Oct 7th, hell even before Oct 7th and the 60 years of Palestinian terrorism and 'from the river to the sea'?

We know Palestinians don't want a two state solution, so why do people like you think Israelis should want one?

That's nothing to do with what I was discussing. Your grossly one sided rhetoric is looking at a bigger issue here than the original post I made.

My point still stands in reply to the pp if as is often says on here that Palestinians are at fault for voting in Hamas then Israelis do not get a pass for voting in a party that also brings death and destruction.

It will be interesting to see how all those that have the Israeli government in the anti Israel community will react to a government which may include those of Arab hertiage.
If there is a new government which includes those of Arab heritage and they carry on in the manner of the current government then the people who defend them will have to quit accusing people who oppose them of doing so only because they hate Jews.

The left isn't what it used to be back in the day. Its infiltrated with anti semitism now. Old Green friends of mine are leaving in droves. Its a party of hatred now.

Glad to hear you have sensible friends who recognise that the Green party is nothing like the party it used to be.

I hope the extremists in the Israeli government are removed but I don’t think you can make this false equivalence between an extremist terror group like Hamas ( who brought terror to their own people as well as Israelis ) and the Israeli government ( who have extremist elements but who do aim to protect their own people)

Broad swing to the right in Israel, especially amongst younger voters

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/18/theres-a-lot-of-racism-a-lot-of-hatred-far-right-gains-predicted-as-israel-heads-to-the-polls?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other