‘Just vote against Bibi,’ Garry Kasparov urges Russian-Israelis ahead of Knesset election

Kasparov, who fled Russia in 2013 amid fears of arrest, argued that Netanyahu’s continued leadership suited Putin by keeping Israel’s position on Ukraine ambiguous and limiting its alignment with Western governments confronting Russian aggression.

“I have no doubt that all the resources of Putin’s propaganda have been brainwashing the Russian-speaking population in Israel, using very simple arguments: Bibi is strong,” he said.

Kasparov identified Netanyahu, alongside US President Donald Trump and French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, as politicians he believes are favoured by the Russian president.

He argued that Moscow benefits from political divisions within Western democracies and from tensions between Israel and European countries.

“As long as Bibi stays, Israel will be a pariah,” he said, arguing that worsening antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment in Europe could serve Moscow’s broader interests by deepening divisions across the continent.

The interview comes as an estimated 150,000 Russian immigrants who have arrived in Israel in recent years prepare to vote, some for the first time. Kasparov’s intervention links their experience of leaving Putin’s Russia with what he sees as Israel’s wider strategic choices.

A new government without Netanyahu would, he argued, offer an opportunity to change course. He said he hoped opposition parties could form a government and that an Arab-Israeli party might support a minority administration, describing the latter as his “personal hope”.

Kasparov acknowledged Netanyahu’s political staying power, saying the prime minister possessed “a phenomenal survival instinct”. He added that many of his opponents had struggled to match his political instincts.

The former chess champion’s central argument, however, concerned Israel’s place in the international order.

“The election in Israel is very important because, yes, it’s a small country, but it has an impact way beyond its size,” he said.

“It is no longer a unique state entitled to all American help because it is fighting a barbaric invasion. That language doesn’t work anymore.”

Israel, he argued, needed to position itself more firmly alongside countries defending democratic freedoms against authoritarian governments.

For Kasparov, that means supporting Ukraine more decisively. He described the conflicts facing the two countries as connected.

“In my view, this is the same war, fought on two fronts, for a very simple reason: We have the same enemy. It’s Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Russia behind them,” he went on.

He also claimed that military experience gained by Iranian forces and their partners in Ukraine had implications for Israel’s security, pointing to missiles subsequently used against Israel and its regional allies.

And he questioned how Hamas had developed its extensive underground tunnel network, although he acknowledged that he had no physical evidence of outside assistance.

Similarly, while describing the October 7 attack as a catastrophic atrocity, he argued that Israel’s strategic circumstances had changed since the wars of earlier decades and that the country should reconsider how it pursues security and international partnerships.

Kasparov’s comments follow an opinion article he wrote in The New York Times on October 15, titled Israelis Must Choose a Secular Nation or Theocracy. In the piece he warned about what he sees as Netanyahu’s increasingly authoritarian tendencies and his reliance on Charedi and far-right political allies.

For Israeli voters, he said, the choice is therefore about more than domestic politics or the identity of the next prime minister. He sees the election as an opportunity for Israel to reassess its international alliances and its relationship with democratic countries confronting Moscow.

“It’s time to move forward. We need new politics. We need big changes. And we have to leave Bibi Netanyahu and his historical baggage behind us,” Kasparov said.