Israeli Elections Won't Alter the Zionist Consensus on Palestinians, Whoever Governs
Source: Gilbert Achcar. "Israel Might Change After Its Election, but Not Much." October 28, 2026. jacobin.com
The Gist
The author argues that although Israel's election may change who runs the government, the major parties on both sides agree on the big questions: no real Palestinian state, continued control of Gaza and the West Bank, and ongoing military action against Hamas, Iran and Hezbollah. So a new government led by the opposition would mostly differ from Netanyahu's in tone and in how it handles settler violence, not in basic direction.
Conclusion
Whatever coalition emerges from Israel's October 2026 election, Israeli policy toward Palestinians, Gaza, and regional adversaries will change little, because the Zionist political mainstream, including the opposition led by Gadi Eisenkot, shares a hardened anti-Palestinian consensus.
Premises
- Anti-Palestinian hatred in Israeli Jewish society peaked after October 7, 2023, and has not significantly diminished, solidifying a reactionary consensus.
- Palestine is almost absent from the campaign debate; the two camps mainly accuse each other of serving Hamas.
- All Zionist parties, from the far right to the remnant 'left', reject even a Palestinian rump state, or tie it to tighter control that would leave it less sovereign than South Africa's Bantustans.
- Eisenkot, the leading opposition figure, is a military doctrinaire who advocates destroying areas where enemy forces are present, aims at continued control and eventual annexation of most of the West Bank and Gaza, and supports the campaigns against Hamas, Iran and Hezbollah.
- The opposition's likely partners are constrained: Eisenkot refuses to ally with Arab parties unless they denounce Hamas, and the Joint List's condition of support for a Palestinian state is incompatible with the Zionist consensus.
- The main likely differences between an Eisenkot government and Netanyahu's are the ultra-Orthodox conscription dispute and the handling of extremist settler violence, which are limited in scope. Alternatively, a Netanyahu-led 'national unity' government with the current opposition would preserve the same consensus.
Assumptions
- Party platforms and the stated positions of leaders reliably predict the policies of future governments.
- Differences over settler violence or conscription do not amount to substantial change in policy toward Palestinians.
- Public opinion, as expressed in the election campaign, reflects and constrains elite policy.
- The Zionist consensus is the decisive structural factor, outweighing external pressures such as US policy or international legal and diplomatic costs.
- The absence of Palestine from the campaign shows consensus rather than avoidance of an issue on which the parties disagree.
- Characterizing the war and West Bank policies as genocide and ethnic cleansing is accurate and shared as a baseline by the audience.