Listen: What should we expect from the Israeli elections?

Production: By Europod, in co-production with Sphera Network. EUobserver is proud to have an editorial partnership with Europod to co-publish the podcast series “Briefed” hosted by Léa Marchal. The podcast is available on all major platforms. Find the full transcript below: Israelis are heading to the polls today for legislative elections. It is the first national vote since 2022, and a decisive moment for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is running again. So who are the main candidates, and what is actually at stake? First, a quick look at where we are. A lot has happened since the last elections in 2022. Since the Hamas terrorist attack on 7 October 2023, which killed more than 1,100 people, the Israeli government has cracked down on Gaza: the death toll is at 74,500 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The number of people wounded is triple that. While a ceasefire was signed last year, around 1,500 Palestinians have been killed since then. In the West Bank, settlement expansion has accelerated, with growing violence. Over the past three years, more than 10,000 Palestinians have been displaced. So this is the context in which the elections are taking place. The current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is running for re-election, as there is no term limit for prime ministers in Israel. And he is no newcomer: he has spent around 16 years in power, though not consecutively. Now, what do the polls say? According to several surveys published last Friday, Gadi Eisenkot is slightly ahead of Netanyahu. But neither is expected to reach an absolute majority. So who is Gadi Eisenkot? He is Netanyahu’s rival, but politically he is closer to the current government’s line than you might expect. He is a former chief of staff of the army, and he also served in Netanyahu’s war cabinet for several months after the 7 October attack. He later left, accusing the prime minister of mismanaging events, and in particular of failing to anticipate the attack. His son was killed in the war in Gaza in December 2023, which seems to have given him a certain sympathy among the public. On the Palestinian question, he opposes the creation of a Palestinian state, and he does not challenge Israel’s policy of territorial expansion. He only promises to tackle settler violence, in the name of the rule of law. Then there is the duo Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid. Bennett briefly served as Prime Minister in 2021. The duo represent a centre-right line that does not differ hugely from Netanyahu’s. On the left side of the political spectrum, there seems to be only one candidate: Yair Golan, of the Democrats party. He is the only one calling for the recognition of a Palestinian state. He is also the candidate many Israelis abroad are coming home to vote for. The French daily newspaper Le Monde has published a long article interviewing Israeli expatriates around the world. Most of them back Golan, who, according to several of those interviewed, represents the only hope of putting Israel back on the right track. But the polls suggest he is well behind the right-wing candidates. He would win around 10 seats in parliament, against 22 for Gadi Eisenkot and 19 for Likud, Netanyahu’s party.