Israel holds legislative elections on Tuesday that will determine whether Benjamin Netanyahu remains prime minister. The vote is the first since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terror attack that spawned three years of brutal war that destroyed the Gaza Strip and rippled across the Middle East. Netanyahu, already Israel's longest-serving prime minister, is seeking a seventh term. Leading the opposition is Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief whose son was killed while serving in Gaza.
Because Israel has a parliamentary system, the real winner may not be known for weeks. Whoever performs best on Tuesday must then try to form a coalition government. Netanyahu would likely rely on ultra-Orthodox and extremist right-wing leaders, while Eisenkot would draw on centrist and center-right figures as well as the left-wing Democrats. Arab-Israeli politicians could tip the balance. According to the polls, the race is complicated, consequential and close.
David Halbfinger, the Times Jerusalem bureau chief, describes the stakes as almost mind-boggling, with questions ranging from drifting toward authoritarianism to whether all citizens share the burden of defending the country and whether any hope of a two-state solution survives. He boils the choice down to two visions of the Jewish state: a Jewish-flavored, Western-style liberal democracy, or an Orthodox Jewish country that holds elections but has more in common with Turkey or Hungary.
The campaign feels like a referendum on Netanyahu, who would be the oldest prime minister in Israel's history at 77 if he wins. Halbfinger calls him the most gifted politician the country has produced, noting he could win another term despite standing trial on corruption charges and facing unpopular coalition partners. Eisenkot, by contrast, is the "un-Bibi," a son of Moroccan immigrants who rose through the Golani Brigade and built a reputation for straight talk. Campaigns are short, with TV ads arriving only at the end, and much of the fighting has played out through A.I.-generated social-media videos.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing