Why Israel’s elections matter to the U.S.
by Anath Hartmann · The Washington TimesOPINION:
Next month is particularly significant for Israel for two main reasons: Oct. 7 marks the third anniversary of the worst single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, and Oct. 27 is the day Israelis head to the polls to choose a new government and prime minister.
These elections are the first since those deadly attacks on the Nova Music Festival and Israel’s subsequent multi-front war against Hezbollah and Hamas, and the first since the preemptive joint U.S.-Israeli attacks on the Iranian regime.
The Knesset (parliament) and the government leader chosen by Israelis will determine not just the direction of the Jewish state’s domestic politics but also, in many ways, the future of the Middle East and America’s involvement in the region.
A poll taken last week by news site Maariv found that if voting were to happen now, the centrist Yashar (Straight) party, led by former Israel Defense Forces Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, would win the largest number of seats in the Knesset.
The Likud (Consolidation) government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, now in the fourth year of his sixth term, would collect a mere 18.
Yet another poll released last week, by Israel’s Channel 13, found Mr. Netanyahu’s bloc pulling slightly ahead.
Among Yashar’s platform goals are principles familiar to American voters: prioritizing public education, reducing social inequalities, and ensuring equal rights and responsibilities so all citizens can realize their potential.
Like many Americans, Israelis are tired of an ever-increasing cost of living and a lack of affordable homes. Many blame Mr. Netanyahu for these and other problems, including the security and intelligence failures that led to the Hamas atrocities and the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
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Since Oct. 7, 2023, levels of fear, worry and stress have spiked to historic highs among Israelis. Nearly 1,000 Israeli service members have fallen in combat, and dozens of Israeli civilians have been killed in retaliatory attacks by Iran.
Israel is losing people in other ways too. In the past three years, there has been a record-high number of annual long-term emigrations — about 80,000 to 90,000. Tourism has dropped by roughly 75%.
Israelis’ apparent desire for government change is understandable given what they have been through in recent years. To some degree, so is the desire for improvement in the U.S.
Yet if Americans vote poorly out of that same frustration — as many did in this year’s primaries — we at least get second chances, starting with November’s midterms.
In Israel, one lousy choice can be the nation’s death knell. That would spell disaster for the U.S. too.
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Israel is and has long been America’s strongest ally. Without it as the Middle East’s lone democratic bulwark against Islamism, chances are high that the entire area would have fallen to extremists long ago and look very different today.
The region — including the United Arab Emirates, America’s largest trading partner in the Middle East — would almost certainly be less receptive to Western investment than it has been.
There is no question that Israel’s next government must fix what ails the nation internally. Those who left Israel must feel safe enough to come home, and those who have stayed deserve to enjoy daily security once again. Tourism, a vital economic engine of the Israeli economy, must return in full force.
Yet a good deal of the nation’s domestic troubles can ultimately be resolved with strong foreign policy.
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The new Knesset and prime minister must remain steadfast in their dedication to eliminating Hamas from the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah from Lebanon, cries of “genocide” from the United Nations be damned.
Israel must continue to work with the U.S. on ending the mullahs’ regime in Iran, building on its historic success in eliminating Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior Iranian figures.
It must keep nurturing its nascent normalization with Abraham Accords signatories Bahrain, the UAE and Morocco, all of which share the common interest of eliminating terrorism. (The recent U.S.-brokered deal between Israel and Morocco to further several agreements from the accords is a great step in this direction.)
A weakening on any of these points could be the hole that sinks the boat, taking America’s Middle East interests down with it. Whatever the new Knesset looks like, the U.S. should do all it can to support Israel in staying strong.
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• Anath Hartmann is deputy commentary editor for The Washington Times.
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