One week until Israel's general election: power rivalry over whether to continue or change government

[Cairo Current Affairs] The general election for Israel's parliament (unicameral, 120 members) is less than a week away from voting on the 27th. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (76) is being held responsible for a cross-border attack by the Islamic group Hamas in the Palestinian autonomous region of Gaza that occurred in October 2023, and the focus is on whether he will remain in office or take over. Although it is reported that the centrist opposition party Yashar is making great strides, the forces of the ruling and opposition parties are evenly matched.

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"Let's be clear: As long as Netanyahu remains in power, Hamas will remain in power." On the 15th of this month, Yashar's former military chief of staff, Eisenkot, gave a speech in southern Israel near Gaza, vowing to "destroy" the military wing of Hamas, which remains in power even after a large-scale attack.

Mr. Eisenkot has increased his support by accusing Mr. Netanyahu of lacking crisis management skills and shirking responsibility for Hamas' surprise attack. He criticized Mr. Netanyahu's political methods, saying that he gave preferential treatment to a small number of far-right parties that form coalitions to maintain power, leading to division among the people. He advocates fair politics.

On the other hand, Mr. Netanyahu has decided that Mr. Eisenkot will cooperate with Arab parties in order to change the government, and argues that the government will become incoherent and dysfunctional over security policies such as Palestine. He says that he has no influence on the United States, which is backed by Israel, and blames Eisenkot's "lack of ability."

According to the average predicted number of seats in opinion polls conducted by local media, Yashar is in the lead with 21.5 seats, followed by the right-wing ruling party Likud, led by Netanyahu, with 19 seats. The anti-Netanyahu bloc, including other parties supporting Yashar, has 51.25 seats, while the Netanyahu camp has 51 seats. Both parties fell short of a majority, and the outcome will depend on coalition efforts after the election.

Aliya Sudakova, a journalist for Channel 9, a private broadcaster whose audience includes ethnic Russians who tend to support the right, explained in an interview that Netanyahu is solidifying the support of hard-right rightists by pursuing "victory through military force" rather than peace through negotiations when it comes to security, an important issue.

On the other hand, the anti-Netanyahu camp has not presented any realistic counterproposals, and has emphasized that the issue is whether it is Netanyahu or not. He expressed concern that it was a personal attack rather than a policy debate.