{"id":612361,"date":"2026-09-11T02:08:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T02:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/612361\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T02:08:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T02:08:10","slug":"israels-election-raises-hopes-and-fears-across-the-arab-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/612361\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel\u2019s election raises hopes and fears across the Arab world"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThey want Netanyahu to lose,\u201d reads a Likud campaign poster featuring Naim Qassem<\/a> and Mojtaba Khamenei alongside Recep Tayyip Erdogan<\/a> and Zohran Mamdani<\/a>. But a closer examination of discourse across the Middle East, particularly in the Arab world, suggests that many in the region \u2014 including countries that maintain formal relations with Israel or engage in covert cooperation with it \u2014 are actually yearning for political change in Israel. No Arab leader has spoken openly on the issue, for fear of being accused of interfering in Israel\u2019s internal affairs ahead of the election, but the message is clear: The region wants a change in government and, above all, fears the continued advancement of the current government\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n

The Arab consensus regarding Netanyahu has taken shape over the past three years, amid countless declarations and moves that many in the region \u2014 and around the world \u2014 view as reflecting an Israel that has lost its balance, become addicted to fantasies and shown a willingness to embark on adventures that destabilize the Middle East.<\/p>\n

\"\u05e1\u05d9\u05e7\u05d5\u05e8<\/a>\"\u05e1\u05d9\u05e7\u05d5\u05e8<\/p>\n

Coverage of the Israeli election on Al Jazeera <\/p>\n

(Photo: Screenshot)<\/p>\n

The fears keeping Israel\u2019s neighbors awake at night center primarily on the prospect of pushing Gazans into Arab countries<\/a> and expanding Israel\u2019s territory<\/a>; cultivating separatist groups perceived as a subversive threat in the Arab world, including Somaliland, the Kurds in Iran and minorities in Syria; seeking out enemies and launching wars, including against Egypt and Turkey; dragging the Americans into an endless maelstrom<\/a>, as demonstrated by Operation Roaring Lion; fueling a religious war by undermining the status quo on the Temple Mount and at the Cave of the Patriarchs, alongside the burning of mosques in the West Bank; and the ongoing absorption of the West Bank, effectively and openly ending any prospect of an agreement with the Palestinians.All this stands in contrast to the narrative presented to the Israeli public about a regional alliance taking shape around the shared Iranian threat \u2014 with any disclosure of ties with Israel vigorously denied \u2014 and about growing prospects for expanding the Abraham Accords<\/a>. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, has consistently made clear that there will be no normalization without addressing the Palestinian issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cNetanyahu aspires to establish hegemony in the Middle East and realize the vision of a \u2018Greater Israel,\u2019 yet he has failed even in his smallest theater of war [implicitly, Gaza],\u201d said Palestinian commentator and senior Fatah official Nabil Amr. \u201cHad he invested in integrating Israel into the region, he would have gone down in history as a leader on the scale of the country\u2019s founders. Instead, he is focused on securing another term and escaping the \u2018legal guillotine,\u2019 causing Israel severe damage that could yet intensify and become the most destructive in the country\u2019s history.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tense atmosphere ahead of the election is heightening concerns about Israel around the world. On Wednesday, Jared Kushner said that amid a \u201ccrazy\u201d election campaign, Israel was behaving \u201ca little irrational.\u201d The main concern is that Netanyahu could initiate military action on one of Israel\u2019s fronts in an effort to improve his image or disrupt the holding of the election. Particular attention is focused on the West Bank, where settler violence is escalating and exacting a heavy diplomatic price. This comes against the backdrop of statements about preparations for an all-out war against the Palestinian Authority, which appear to reflect an aspiration to fulfill a \u201cwarning\u201d about Palestinian security forces turning their guns on Israel \u2014 a scenario whose likelihood has increased because of Israeli actions.<\/p>\n

Beyond concern that Netanyahu\u2019s coalition could win the election, there are fears that its current policies would intensify, inevitably leading to a deterioration in relations between Israel and countries in the region. \u201cThe current government remaining in power, particularly if it is strengthened by figures such as Moshe Feiglin and Ofer Winter, would require Jordan to prepare for the possibility of war and reconsider its relations with Israel,\u201d Jordanian researcher Dr. Ayman Haniti said in a conversation this week.<\/p>\n

Particular concern has been expressed over National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir\u2019s \u201cDisengagement 710\u201d plan for the \u201cvoluntary migration\u201d of Gaza residents. Against this backdrop, eight Arab and Muslim countries \u2014 Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey and Indonesia \u2014 issued a joint condemnation this week of statements by Israeli politicians regarding the implementation of population transfer.<\/p>\n

\u201cA victory by the current coalition would mean abandoning efforts to reach an arrangement in Gaza and moving toward implementing displacement, with \u2018Plan 710\u2019 going from a party document to government policy,\u201d Palestinian researcher Ahmed Issa said.<\/p>\n

Lebanese commentator George Issa: \u201cIt is difficult to find substantial differences between the positions of Israeli leaders after Oct. 7. The climate in Israel does not allow for prime ministers who would pursue a more moderate line than Netanyahu. At most, a leader may be elected who provokes less domestic controversy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Arab world sees the upcoming election as fateful not only for Israel but for the future of the entire region. Interest in Israel\u2019s political maelstrom \u2014 accompanied by a striking familiarity with its finer details \u2014 is unprecedented. Every party merger and reserved spot on an electoral slate receives extensive coverage in Arab media, alongside polling results. Two weeks ago, the Saudi magazine Al Majalla devoted an issue to covering the election campaign, including a spotlight on Gadi Eisenkot (\u201cWill he become Israel\u2019s leader, break the \u2018curse of the generals\u2019 and end the Netanyahu era?\u201d), an analysis of the components of the Religious Zionist movement and voting trends among Arab citizens of Israel.<\/p>\n

There is indeed emerging hope that the opposition will win, but it is accompanied by concern that rapid and dramatic change may not necessarily follow. This is due both to the likely composition of a future government, particularly the rightward leanings of some of its members, and to expectations that the current coalition, if defeated, would make vigorous efforts to thwart any change.<\/p>\n

\u201cEisenkot comes from a right-wing cultural background and his mother supported Shas for decades. He is known for hawkish security positions and was the architect of the \u2018Dahiya Doctrine,\u2019\u201d Lebanese commentator George Issa said. \u201cMore broadly, it is difficult to find substantial differences between the positions of Israeli leaders after Oct. 7. The prevailing climate in Israel does not allow for prime ministers who would pursue a more moderate line than Netanyahu. At most, a leader may be elected who provokes less domestic controversy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ibrahim al-Amine, a Lebanese columnist who reflects Hezbollah\u2019s positions, added: \u201cThere are no substantive differences among the candidates. The main debate is over style and methods.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the prevailing assumption across much of Arab discourse is that a new government would be the lesser of two evils compared with the current situation.<\/p>\n

Another development attracting attention is the addition of Yoav Segalovich to Ra\u2019am, the United Arab List. The move, in which a senior former police officer and avowed Zionist is joining an Islamist party, is difficult to digest in the Arab world as well as among Arab citizens of Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cBringing Segalovich into the party is intended to enable Mansour Abbas to join a coalition, a scenario that would undoubtedly have Sayyid Qutb [one of the ideological forefathers of the Muslim Brotherhood] turning furiously in his grave,\u201d Jordanian commentator Ziad Barakat said. \u201cIf Abbas truly adhered to the Muslim Brotherhood\u2019s doctrine, he would never have entered the Knesset. He seeks to turn the \u201848 Arabs\u2019 [a common Arab term for Arab citizens of Israel] into Israelis and establish a version of the Druze-Zionist alliance.\u201d<\/p>\n

As with many other issues, when it comes to the region, the Israeli public needs to take a critical and clear-eyed look at the barrage of narratives, slogans and fantasies that has raged here since Oct. 7. The central lesson is that Israel cannot wage an eternal multifront war, establish a single state while effectively annexing the West Bank, encourage the transfer of Palestinians and adhere to goals with a religious-messianic character \u2014 foremost among them building the Third Temple and destroying Al-Aqsa Mosque \u2014 while simultaneously advancing normalization. The claim that it can do both was a false premise at the heart of the conception that preceded Oct. 7.<\/p>\n

If the current policy toward the region continues, not only will the illusions described above prove, as expected, to be a failure, but Israel will also suffer severe damage and face a grave threat to strategic assets secured after bitter wars and on which its national security rests \u2014 foremost among them its peace agreements with Arab states.<\/p>\n

Dr. Michael Milshtein is a senior researcher at the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThey want Netanyahu to lose,\u201d reads a Likud campaign poster featuring Naim Qassem and Mojtaba Khamenei alongside Recep…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":612362,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":["post-612361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/612362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}