Elections in Israel

A new parliament will be elected in Israel in October. This election will also determine whether Benjamin Netanyahu can continue to serve as prime minister or will be replaced. But much more is at stake: the future of democracy and the rule of law in Israel, the treatment of Palestinians and the occupation, as well as issues of war and peace in the region.

Rarely before has the political and social debate in Israel been so deeply polarized. Netanyahu’s supporters and opponents stand irreconcilably opposed to one another. Settlers are ruthlessly pushing forward their vision of a “Greater Israel,” while the small remaining peace camp demands an end to the occupation. Right-wing nationalist forces are promoting the idea of Jewish supremacy, while minorities - and increasingly, women as well - fear for their rights or are already facing restrictions. At the same time, ongoing mass demonstrations have politicized and mobilized new segments of the population. Even conditions that were previously taken for granted are increasingly being called into question, such as the state-subsidized social and cultural autonomy of the ultra-Orthodox population. The current election campaign is thus a process of social negotiation over the country’s future.

In Israel, political preferences and the importance of individual issues are closely linked to group affiliations. This is evident not only in the relationship between Jewish and Palestinian Israelis, but also between Ashkenazim (Jews of European descent) and Mizrahim (Jews with roots in the Middle East), as well as between religious and secular Jews. Given the strong polarization and increasing social fragmentation, political understanding across these divides is becoming increasingly difficult.

From the outside, many of these social developments and their impact on politics are barely discernible. However, they are crucial for Israel’s election campaign and social cohesion. Together with activists and experts from Israel, we therefore aim to better understand how group affiliations and specific concerns shape the discourse in the country. What significance do they have for political preferences? Which issues currently dominate the domestic political discourse, and which of these could be decisive in the election? What role do the government’s forceful push to overhaul the judiciary and the threat to democracy play? How are the massacre and hostage-takings of October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza viewed today, especially against the backdrop of Israel’s growing cultural and political isolation in the world? What role do Jewish-Palestinian relations play in Israel? To what extent are the ongoing annexation of the West Bank and the pogroms against the Palestinian population taking place there an issue in the election campaign?

With:

• Gabriel Sod, New Israel Fund (NIF), Israel
• Dr. Netta Amar Shiff, Human rights lawyer and director of the Mizrahi Civic Collective, Israel

Moderator: Dr. Steffen Hagemann, Political scientist, University of Kaiserslautern
 

Language: English/German with simultaneous interpretation

A cooperation between the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the New Israel Fund (NIF) Germany.
 

Information:    
Bauke Baumann
Senior Programme Officer Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Iran
Heinrich Böll Foundation 
E baumann@boell.de
T +49(0)285 34 -321