TEL AVIV — After three years of war, crisis and global outcry, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces one of the most significant electoral tests of his decades-long political career.
As Israelis head to the polls on Tuesday, Netanyahu’s party is neck and neck with former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, who has emerged as his biggest rival in a campaign that has revolved around everything from Israel’s security and military conscription to basic issues like the economy.
Why is this election so important?
These are the first national elections in Israel since the attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023, the deadliest day in the country’s history.
The attacks, which left 1,195 people dead and 251 hostages taken in Gaza, triggered a major security crisis that led to three years of war on several fronts. There are few households in Israel that have not been affected in one way or another by the events that have occurred since, leaving a deep sense of grief and insecurity that persists in Israeli society.
For most Israelis, the man who defined the continuing legacy of October 7 is Netanyahu. Many of his opponents believe he has repeatedly evaded responsibility for the intelligence failures that led to the attacks and for what is widely seen as an inadequate response by security forces.
Bibi, as he is commonly known, has led Israel for nearly 19 of the past 30 years, with security a central part of his pitch to voters for many years. The 77-year-old has survived political defeats before, only to come back stronger, but a wave of opposition could make this one of the most daunting challenges of his political career.
The election is not just about Netanyahu’s political survival: it is also about his personal freedom. Netanyahu is seeking re-election while facing long-running domestic criminal charges over fraud, breach of trust and corruption, allegations he has dismissed as a politically motivated witch hunt.
His hold on power gives him political privileges that have allowed him to drag out these cases, but that could change if he is removed from power. Critics derisively accused him of running away to avoid prison.
What are the issues at stake?
Netanyahu is going into the election as both the leading candidate and one of the main issues dividing voters. His actions before, during and after the October 7 attacks fueled much of the debate.
Netanyahu’s opponents – particularly his biggest rival, Eisenkot, 66 – have rallied behind calls for an independent commission of inquiry to investigate the attacks, which Netanyahu has opposed.
Various critics accuse Netanyahu of helping keep Hamas in power in Gaza in the years before October 7, of prioritizing the fight against Hamas over rescuing Israeli hostages following the attacks, and of alienating Israel from much of the world through his actions since. Last month, he threatened to sue the Israeli newspaper Haaretz over an article he had been warned about in advance on October 7.
“This is the first opportunity for Israelis to vote in what is becoming a referendum on what Netanyahu stands for since October 7,” said Dahlia Sheindlin, an Israeli-American political analyst.
“To his supporters, he is the strong prime minister who fought back and was able to expand the war to other fronts to defend Israel,” she said. “And for his detractors or critics, those who support opposition parties, he is the prime minister who led to the government’s failure to detect or prevent October 7 and who refused to take responsibility for it.”
Netanyahu has staunchly defended his conduct and the war in Gaza, which has left around 74,500 dead since October 7, according to Palestinian Health Ministry figures. He is running for office in the face of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity, and after vehemently rejecting allegations of genocide from a United Nations commission.
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