{"id":649926,"date":"2026-10-18T06:48:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T06:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/649926\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T06:48:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T06:48:10","slug":"theres-a-lot-of-racism-a-lot-of-hatred-far-right-gains-predicted-as-israel-heads-to-the-polls-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/649926\/","title":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a lot of racism, a lot of hatred\u2019: Far right gains predicted as Israel heads to the polls | Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four decades ago, when the extremist rabbi Meir Kahane<\/a> won a single seat in Israel\u2019s Knesset, other legislators passed a law to prevent him running again, left the chamber when he rose to speak and worked together to block discussion of his ethnonationalist proposals.<\/p>\n

These ranged from mass expulsions of Palestinians to apartheid provisions such as segregated beaches and the criminalisation of sex between Jews and gentiles.<\/p>\n

This month, Kahane\u2019s political heirs may claim more Knesset seats in national elections than the remains of the once mighty Labor party, home of Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Golda Meir.<\/p>\n

Rightwing leader and rabbi Meir Kahane carried by supporters through the streets of Jerusalem after he won a seat in the Israeli parliament in July 1984. Photograph: AP<\/p>\n

At an election rally this week, Israel\u2019s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, mixed calls for ethnic cleansing and jokes about starving Palestinian prisoners with a proud anecdote about his conviction<\/a> in 1998 over bumper stickers that read \u201cRabbi Kahane was right\u201d.<\/p>\n

A poll for the Israel<\/a> Hayom newspaper, published on Friday, forecast his Jewish Strength party would win nine seats in the 27 October election. The Democrats, successor to the Labor party led by former general Yair Golan, were predicted to claim eight seats.<\/p>\n

Ben-Gvir\u2019s rise is one of the more extreme manifestations of a broad shift to the right among Jewish citizens of Israel. It is particularly pronounced among the young and will shape the country\u2019s next government, regardless of who becomes prime minister after closely fought elections.<\/p>\n

More than 500,000 Israelis have reached voting age since the last election in 2022, and three-quarters of first-time Jewish voters define themselves as right or centre-right, a recent poll for Channel 12 television found (it did not survey<\/a> Palestinian citizens of Israel).<\/p>\n

Young supporters of Itamar Ben-Gvir shout slogans as he tours a market during a meet and greet in Ramla on 14 October. Photograph: Ilia Yefimovich\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The generation voting for the first time came of age after the Oslo process collapsed, when the prospect of negotiating a political resolution to the Israel-Palestine conflict seemed to be fading.<\/p>\n

They were teenagers during the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,200 people, the majority of them civilians. Militants took 251 living hostages and dead bodies to Gaza, leading to a two-year hostage crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people, especially young people, who think that there is no solving the conflict, that we\u2019ll always be at war. There\u2019s a lot of racism, a lot of hatred, but most of all, there\u2019s fear,\u201d said Erez Uzan, vice-chair of the Young Democrats.<\/p>\n

Bucking global trends, young Israelis are more rightwing than older generations and are likely to vote in a new Knesset with more rightwing members <\/a>than the current chamber, said Dahlia Scheindlin, a political analyst and public opinion researcher.<\/p>\n

Consistently rightwing ultra-Orthodox and nationalist religious communities make up a growing proportion of Israel\u2019s Jewish population but still account for only around a quarter of the electorate, so demographics alone do not explain the growing age gap on political issues.<\/p>\n

A mural titled RUN by artist Alexsandro Palombo, depicting Israel\u2019s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and politician Gadi Eisenkot wearing bulletproof vests and carrying batons as they chase Bart Simpson, portrayed as a young Hamas fighter, in Tel Aviv. Photograph: Jack Guez\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cAll Israelis, and particularly younger people, have been living in a political environment where not only is the government rightwing but the general terms of debate are really populist and ultra-nationalist. That\u2019s all they know. They\u2019re socialised into it,\u201d Scheindlin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been a real downplaying of anything to do with democracy, universal values or human rights. Those are seen as weak, if they\u2019re discussed at all, possibly as bad as betrayal. And very few politicians talk about peace, concessions, negotiations, Palestinian self-determination, or even Palestinian wellbeing.\u201d<\/p>\n

A consistent majority of Israeli polls show prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s current coalition bloc with the ultra-Orthodox and the far right will fall well below the threshold of 61 seats needed to form a government.<\/p>\n

People protest outside the Israeli high court in support of granting Arab parties the right to run in the upcoming general elections. Photograph: Debbie Hill\/UPI\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

The opposition has a clear path to power through an alliance with parties representing Palestinian citizens of Israel, known as Arab parties inside the country. But the political shift right means most of the Jewish-led parties have ruled out such a coalition, although similar promises have been broken after past elections.<\/p>\n

Particularly when it comes to Palestine, most offer little challenge to Netanyahu\u2019s claim that security can only be pursued through military domination and annexation of territory from Gaza to Syria and Lebanon.<\/p>\n

The peace deals that secured Israel\u2019s borders with Jordan and Egypt, once seen as no less an existential threat than Iran is today, do not feature in political debate as an alternative path.<\/p>\n

Their campaigns focus on other issues, from promises to tackle corruption and bring accountability for the 7 October attacks to improving schools and stopping ultra-Orthodox draft dodging.<\/p>\n

Gadi Eisenkot, former Israeli army chief of staff and head of the Yashar party, delivers a statement during a press conference at the Black Arrow memorial site near the Mefalsim kibbutz, adjacent to the Gaza Strip, on 15 October. Photograph: Ilia Yefimovich\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The man leading the field to replace Netanyahu, Gadi Eisenkot<\/a>, is a former head of the Israeli military who formulated the notorious Dahiya doctrine<\/a> of using \u201cdisproportionate force\u201d to cause damage and destruction.<\/p>\n

Naftali Bennett is a former prime minister and former chair of the settler council, who supports annexing much of the West Bank. Avigdor Lieberman wants to dismantle the Palestinian Authority and replace it with an Israeli-Jordanian confederation (though apparently he did not consult the Jordanians about this plan<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett, leader of the Together (Beyachad) alliance, attends a \u2018Democratic festival\u2019 event in Ramat Hasharon on 13 October. Photograph: Amir Cohen\/Reuters<\/p>\n

No Jewish-led party backed a future Palestinian state and only the Democrats opposed settlement expansion, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported, after seeking all parties\u2019 positions on the future of the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n

Eisenkot\u2019s Yashar party pledged to strengthen and expand settlements, which are legal under Israeli law. All settlements are illegal under international law.<\/p>\n

The Democrats, the only remaining political home for Israel\u2019s Zionist left, are led by Golan, a former general and deputy head of Israel\u2019s military who personally rushed to border communities under the Hamas attack on the morning of 7 October to rescue civilians.<\/p>\n

Young Israelis gather to listen to the Democrats party leader and former Knesset member, Yair Golan, at a campaign event in Tel Aviv. Photograph: Ilia Yefimovich\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Golan rejects a two-state solution and is campaigning on a policy platform that would be solidly centrist in much of Europe. Yet even so, Israel\u2019s political shift to the right is so pronounced that the party\u2019s campaigners have been repeatedly attacked \u2013 physically and verbally \u2013 as a radical fringe.<\/p>\n

Last week, rightwing thugs assaulted<\/a> Democrats volunteers manning a stand at Jerusalem\u2019s historic Mahane Yehuda market, kicking, hitting and spitting at the group and stealing a phone while police stood by and watched.<\/p>\n

Democrats protest against a visit by the Israeli finance minister and leader of the Religious Zionist party Bezalel Smotrich to the Mahane Yehuda market on 9 October. Photograph: Abir Sultan\/EPA<\/p>\n

The scale of abuse prompted the party to train campaigners in non-violent direct action, \u201cso they know how to handle themselves in a situation where they can keep safe and de-escalate,\u201d said Uzan of the Young Democrats.<\/p>\n

The far right is on the rise globally, but Israeli politics that \u201crevolve round constant conflict\u201d heighten the appeal of ethnonationalist messages, Uzan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe grow up in fear, seeing war all around us \u2013 and that leads to a certain perspective. In the last 20 years, our leadership in the centre-left camp has avoided talking about security issues,\u201d Uzan said, adding they had ceded that ground to the right.<\/p>\n

Now he and fellow campaigners are trying to tackle that failure at a grassroots level, including speaking to young people about the peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan that were unpopular when signed but have brought lasting stability.<\/p>\n

The process is slow but effective, he says, pointing to an active young membership several thousand strong, well above parties who attract more young voters.<\/p>\n

A man with a flag wrapped around his shoulders featuring an image of Israel\u2019s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, walks through Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem on 16 October. Photograph: John Wessels\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Comedian turned activist Lior Schleien has been trying to have similar conversations with groups of young Israelis about the deadly futility of pursuing \u201ctotal victory\u201d in endless wars. He posts footage of some of the most shocking exchanges, featuring smiling teens advocating on camera for the mass killing or expulsion of Palestinians.<\/p>\n

\u201cLots of Arabs live here. They were born here, they are citizens like you and me. What will you do with them?\u201d Schleien asks one group<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cKill them \u2026 give me a knife and I\u2019ll murder them,\u201d says one young man.<\/p>\n

Ben-Gvir is particularly adept on social media, where posts like a recent AI video laying out plans<\/a> for ethnic cleansing have helped build more engagement<\/a> with young voters than any Israeli politician except Netanyahu.<\/p>\n

But he is not an outlier for extremism among allies of the prime minister. Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich is a messianic settler who recently called to<\/a> \u201cwipe out Gaza\u201d, and has vowed to \u201cbury\u201d a future Palestinian state.<\/p>\n

People walk past a bus with an election campaign banner for Moshe Feiglin of the Zehut party in Jerusalem. Photograph: John Wessels\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

For this election, Smotrich has joined forces with Moshe Feiglin, a fundamentalist <\/a>who has long called for the mass expulsion of Palestinians and the construction of a biblical Jewish temple where the al-Aqsa mosque compound now stands.<\/p>\n

The rise of the far right and religious fundamentalism, combined with Netanyahu\u2019s assault on institutions protecting Israel\u2019s partial democracy (Palestinians living under Israeli military rule in the occupied West Bank do not have the rights of citizens), mean many Israelis on the centre and left see this vote as existential.<\/p>\n

David Harel, the president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, says the country\u2019s current path leads towards a bleak future as a corrupt, impoverished pariah state, dominated by messianic fundamentalists maintaining a \u201cviolent, cruel occupation\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are already in \u2018stoppage time\u2019. If we lose this time, there will be no second chance. The country we love so dearly will breathe its last. Plain and simple!\u201d he told a rally in the northern city of Haifa.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is why I have come here today, to ask and to implore. And if necessary, I will get down on my knees and beg. Please, please, please! Just go out and vote!\u201d<\/p>\n