70,000 Deaths and a 19-Year Tenure: Israelis Weigh Netanyahu's Legacy in Tight Knesset Race

Israelis cast ballots on Tuesday in a Knesset election that centers on the political future of Benjamin Netanyahu, who has served as prime minister for 19 of the last 30 years. The contest is framed less as a traditional left-right divide and more as a direct referendum on his leadership, with polling showing the two camps running close.

Gadi Eisenkot, the leading opposition challenger, attracted supporters to a rally in Modi'in, a city located between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Eisenkot is a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces and the son of working-class Moroccan Jews who entered politics four years ago. His party, Yashar, translates to straight or direct, and he advocates for US-style term limits for prime ministers, stating that power corrupts.

Voters at the rally cited his plain speaking style as a primary reason for their support. Noa Sadeh, 56, said she was tired of politicians who only know how to talk and wanted a leader who would do the work. The opposition bloc also includes former prime minister Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman, both right-wing figures who previously served alongside Netanyahu before breaking with him.

On the far right, Yishai Fleisher of the Otzma Yehudit party argued in Bet Shemesh that Netanyahu has drifted too far left and must be pulled back. Fleisher called for additional settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, a new ministry to manage the voluntary departure of Palestinians, the death penalty, and more weapons for Jewish civilians.

Netanyahu has defined the campaign narrative through posters that contrast Yamin, meaning right, with Falastin, meaning Palestine. He has aligned his opponents with the leaders of two parties representing Palestinian citizens of Israel, who comprise about a fifth of the population. The final weeks of the campaign focused on whether the anti-Netanyahu Jewish parties, who are forecast to outpoll the prime minister but lack a majority, would rely on Arab parties to form a government.

Pro-Netanyahu media outlets, particularly Channel 14, have kept his opponents on the defensive. This week, channel host Yinon Magal referred to Eisenkot as a Moroccan monkey. While rally speakers mentioned the slur, Eisenkot did not, a move admirers called restraint and skeptics viewed as a lack of understanding regarding his opposition.

The tight polling puzzles many observers given the circumstances of the last three years. The deadliest attack in Israeli history occurred on October 7, 2023, on Netanyahu's watch, followed by a war in Gaza that killed more than 70,000 Palestinians. Israel stated that one-third of those killed were Hamas combatants, but the war did not eradicate the group, and Iran's nuclear threat remains intact. Netanyahu also faces fallout from his court reforms, the Qatargate affair, and an ongoing corruption trial.

Oded Levi, who voted for Netanyahu in 2022 but attended the Eisenkot rally, stated that whoever was prime minister at the time of the attack is responsible. Netanyahu's durability relies on a loyal base built over three decades that has not wavered despite reports of credible warnings about the October 7 attack. His allies maintain that army and intelligence chiefs kept him in the dark, a claim they admit is unfounded.

Opposition hopes are bolstered by liberal, secular expatriate Israelis flying home to vote, a group not captured in standard polls that could decide the election if the result turns on a single seat. On Thursday, a state ceremony marked the 1995 assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, an event Netanyahu skipped by sending a low-ranking minister. Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats, expressed optimism about a regional strategic process for long-term security, avoiding the term peace process.

The word peace remains sensitive but present in the public discourse. A video shared this week showed young Israelis at a Negev music festival singing Shir LaShalom, the song Rabin performed before he was shot 31 years ago. For many voters, the full flights home and the return of that song signal that the era of Netanyahu may be ending.