You’ve come a long way, Bibi: Israel’s crucial election
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Why is Israel’s October election seen as the most consequential in recent history?
The Economist. Hello and welcome to the Intelligence from The Economist. I'm Jason Polmer. Today on the show, takeaways from the World Cup and the passing of the world's largest iceberg.
First up though. Uh
This morning Israel's parliament voted to dissolve itself. That puts the country officially back in campaigning season. An election will be held in late October. Longtime listeners will remember just how tired of that Israeli voters can get. Before this government, the country had five elections in less than four years. Each time it was an uphill battle to cobble together a coalition that could actually govern. Each time, of course, with Binyman Netanyahu at or with easy access to the top. This time, well, it will again be compromises in horse trading. But the stakes seem far, far higher.
I think this is one of the most important elections that Israel has ever had.
Josie DeLapp is our Middle East editor.
It's the first chance for people to pass judgment on the government since the attacks of October 7th in 2023 and the wars that have come after that. And it is a chance to pass judgment on a government that has been perhaps the most extreme that Israel has ever had in its ultranationalism and its religiosity. And so when Israel. Israelis vote. on October the twenty seventh. They're going to be choosing between Another version of that government and its vision for the future of Israel or an alternative.
So essentially, Josie, you're suggesting it's a Netanyahu government like the one we have now or other. What does the other look like? Who is the opposition here?
The current government has a lot of opponents, and we shouldn't forget that the current government is a coalition as Israel's always are. So that contains more than one party. But the opposition parties are a diverse group, Naftali Bennett and Yael Lapid, both former prime ministers, both probably center-right, although I think it's a mark of how far to the right Israel as a country has moved that we see them as such.
What are the main parties and leaders competing against Netanyahu’s coalition?
They brought together two of their parties to create together. And then the other big challenger is Gardi Eisenhock. Who is a relative newcomer to politics? He used to be head of the IDF. He served in Netanyahu's War Cabinet in the early days of the war, after October the 7th, but then resigned after criticizing the Prime Minister's strategy. And he has been rising in the polls. His party, which he launched in September last year, is looking like it could be a real rival. To liquid Netanyah's party. Then you've got a host of smaller parties. You've got parties that represent Israel's Arabs. You've got the Democrats, which is another coalition party formed of Labour, Israel's founding party, which ruled the country for its first two decades, and Meretz, a left-wing Zionist party.
Both of them have become a lot less popular in recent years, and they've come together and in an effort to boost their standing.
So the question becomes whether you could build a coalition without Lakut, without Binjamin Netanyahu.
When you look at the polling of the opposition parties as a whole, at least at the moment, they tend to come out on top. They win perhaps 66 votes in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, which would be enough to give them a ruling majority. The problem is that this is a very diverse group of politicians. They do not agree on a lot of things. And so it's not enough for them to win enough seats to beat Netanyahu and his allies. They also have to find some way of working together to form a governing coalition.
And what are the issues specifically that are in the minds of Israeli voters for this election?
Well, you would think that the fact that Israel has been fighting wars for three years, arguably without achieving the victory that certainly Netanyahu has promised, would be at the forefront. But ending the wars probably won't be the biggest question of the campaign, even though it's probably the most urgent issue facing Israel today. One of the biggest issues that people are going to be talking about is the ultra-orthodox, the Haredi communities in Israel.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why is Israel’s October election seen as the most consequential in recent history?
0:03–2:49
2
What are the main parties and leaders competing against Netanyahu’s coalition?
2:49–5:52
3
How are the ultra‑Orthodox conscription exemption and education reforms shaping voter priorities?
5:52–9:23
4
Why are the Palestinian question and war‑fatigue being down‑played in the campaign?
9:23–12:24
5
What are the biggest storylines and controversies surrounding the World Cup finals?
12:24–14:18
6
How did political interference and ticket pricing affect the tournament’s public perception?
14:18–17:01
7
What will the melting of iceberg A23A mean for the Southern Ocean ecosystem?
17:01–19:44
8
How does the episode tie together Israel’s election, World Cup drama, and climate change?
19:44–23:48