JERUSALEM, Israel – Israelis go to the polls in two weeks to choose who will lead the country in the months and years to come. In a time of war, heightened security concerns are topping the list of priorities.
With the Jewish holidays and the memorial week for the third anniversary of the October 7th massacre behind them, Israelis are shifting into pre-election campaign mode.
Thirty-eight parties are running for 120 Knesset seats. According to polls, about ten or eleven parties will actually pass the voting threshold to enter the Knesset.
Candidates from ten parties across the political spectrum recently shared their voter pitch at an event hosted by Israel365 specifically for Anglo-Israelis. The elephant in the room is three years of war.
Amichai Chikli, representing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, told CBN News that despite the tough war and extremely high price, Israel did eliminate the leadership of Hezbollah and Hamas and is controlling southern Lebanon and 60 percent of Gaza.
“I’m not saying that there weren’t mistakes, that everything was perfect,” Chikli admitted. “But for me, the responsibility of Netanyahu is to understand that we need to change dramatically the way that we approach the situation and to totally change the reality in the Middle East. And I think that his leadership was beyond imagination and his ability to stand.”
On the opposition side, Moran Zer Katzenstein of the Democrats Party, blasted the current government.
“Just imagine, this is the same government that is responsible for the biggest, the horrifying massacre that happened to the Jewish people since the Holocaust. They didn’t take responsibility then, and they’re not doing it now,” she remarked.
Ohad Tal from the Religious Zionist Party, part of the Netanyahu coalition, believes that the essence of the elections is who Israel is. He told us, “We are in the biggest struggle for the most important issue, and that is the identity of this country. This is what divides today, left and right in Israel.”
After three years of war, the issue of who serves in the Israel Defense Forces is a top priority.
All Jewish men and women are drafted into the IDF after high school, except the ultra-Orthodox Haredim. They represent about ten percent of the Jewish population and are exempt from service according to a law enacted in 1948.
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According to polls, Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar – “Straight”– Party is the biggest contender against Likud. Lianne Pollak-David from Yashar says the first thing they plan to do is establish a State Commission of Inquiry into the October 7th attack.
“But beyond that, we have some very important core principles,” she explained. “One is reinforcing Israel as a Jewish democratic state, based on the values of the Declaration of Independence. Second is drafting for all; every Israeli citizen, including the ultra-Orthodox and the Arab citizens of Israel, have to take part.”
She continued, “And thirdly, we are, in order to ensure that nobody is confused, we have to ensure that Hamas is acknowledged as a terrorist organization that needs to be dismantled.”
Yishai Fleischer, who is joining Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit Party, “Jewish Strength,” claims they are not running on promises, but on their record of defending Israelis and “pushing back on jihadism.” Ben-Gvir is considered by many as a radical for his outspoken stand on issues.
Fleischer contended, “This party has tripled the amount of civilian arms that Jews have to defend themselves. It has actually made prison life no longer full of amenities and luxuries for terrorists. It has created a thousand new rapid response teams so that we can never again have an October 7th.”
He added, “And then it’s also moved Jewish pride forward. By creating equal rights for Jews on the Temple Mount, praying on the Temple Mount, developing heritage sites, developing the biblical highway.”
For conservatives, one of the new choices is Amcha Yisrael, “The People of Israel” party, led by retired IDF General Ofer Winter.
Israeli-Arab influencer Yosef Haddad and former Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum are both members of the party.
“We’re a right-wing party,” Hassan-Nahoum indicated. “We don’t have any apologies for it. We believe in short, decisive wars. We believe in finishing the war, which is still ongoing. We believe in believing our enemies when they think they want to kill us and not try and compromise with the devil. We believe in service for all Jews and Arabs.”
About a week after the elections, the official results are announced, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog will commission the one party most likely to succeed in forming a coalition to establish the next Israeli government.
