Israeli Election Campaign Skirts Peace Debate Amid Rising Tensions
Israel's parliamentary election campaign has largely avoided discussion of a peace process with the Palestinians, focusing instead on domestic issues and leadership rivalries.
The upcoming Israeli parliamentary election on Oct. 27 is being fought without substantive debate on a peace settlement with the Palestinians, despite the Arab minority comprising about 20% of the electorate. Analysts say the lack of focus on a two-state solution or U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed peace-through-prosperity plan reflects a broader avoidance of the issue.
Michael Milshtein, a retired Israeli army colonel who previously headed Palestinian affairs in military intelligence, described the campaign as “focused on domestic and personal issues, and on Netanyahu,” adding that it has omitted “the very deep complicated issue of the critical relations between us and the Palestinians.”
Geopolitical scholar HA Hellyer noted that both the governing coalition and opposition parties support the overall settlement project in the West Bank and the incursion in southern Lebanon, but they do not challenge the policies related to Gaza. Hellyer said the opposition’s criticism is directed mainly at Netanyahu’s handling of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack rather than at the broader security strategy.
The opposition Change bloc, led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, has highlighted Netanyahu’s alleged failure to heed warnings before the Hamas assault but has offered little detail on its governing platform. Netanyahu’s campaign, in turn, has portrayed Eisenkot as an appeaser who would rely on Arab parties such as Ra’am and Ta’al to form a coalition.
Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert argued that the trauma of Oct. 7 has shifted public opinion rightward, discouraging parties from discussing negotiations with the Palestinians for fear of losing support. Polls show strong Jewish-Israeli backing for continued military actions in Gaza, against Iran, and against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Sven Burgsdorff, a former EU representative to the West Bank, contended that there is little substantive difference between Netanyahu’s Likud and the center-right opposition on Gaza or a two-state solution, noting that most leaders on both sides accept the Israeli Defense Forces’ conduct in Gaza and oppose Palestinian sovereignty.
Without a clear move toward a negotiated settlement, analysts warn that Israel risks further alienating traditional allies in Europe and the United States.