For the outside world, Israel’s upcoming election will turn on Gaza, Iran, the West Bank and international geopolitics.
The picture is very different domestically, in a complex society made up of a series of ethnic and religious groups, interlocking and sometimes competing across any number of axes.
It is their concerns that will determine the country’s future at the voting booths on October 27.
Take the Mizrahim – the Jews who originated from the Middle East and North Africa, so often marginalised and even overlooked by the establishment in Israel’s short history.
Politicians vying for power now ignore them at their electoral peril.
They currently number around 40 per cent of the country’s Jewish population. Jews with Moroccan origins alone now number a million.
To discover the reality of Mizrahi life today, take a drive north less than an hour up the coast from Tel Aviv to the working-class town of Or Akiva.
Walk through its streets and you will see older men playing cards and backgammon in cafes, smoking and talking politics.
Guaranteed, one phrase comes up again and again: “Rak Bibi” – “Only Bibi.” For decades, the predominantly Mizrahi town has been one of the most loyal strongholds for Likud, the prime minister’s party.
Gadi Eizenkot, the Yashar leader who may become Israel's first Mizrahi prime minister, speaking last month (Jack GUEZ / AFP via Getty)AFP via Getty Images
The contrast with its neighbour is striking. Just seconds away lies the affluent seaside community of Caesarea – dubbed the “Beverly Hills of Israel”, where Benjamin Netanyahu owns a private home.
Two neighbouring towns, yet worlds apart socially and economically. Many of Or Akiva’s residents are descendants of Moroccan Jews who arrived in Israel in the 1950s.
Like many Mizrahi immigrants, they were initially housed in ma’abarot: the transit camps of tents and tin shacks that became symbols of the hardships and discrimination many experienced in Israel’s early years.
Today’s olim complaining that they can’t download their healthcare app should spare a thought for the mother of nine who left the comforts of Morocco only to find herself sharing a single shack with her family in a sweltering ma’abara, with no air conditioning or refrigerator, waiting for second-hand shoes from the handout trucks from diaspora Jews.
Those memories and the discrimination many Mizrahi families experienced continue to haunt political loyalties.
Singer and chazan Jo Amar gave powerful voice to the reality of Mizrahi life in the early years of Israel in his 1960 protest song “Lishkat Avoda” (“Employment Office”), telling the story of a Moroccan immigrant rejected from a job in favour of a Polish immigrant.
Iraqi Jews being flown to Israel in 1950[Missing Credit]
The song became an enduring example of the discrimination which so many Mizrahim suffered, creating an unshakable resentment against the centre-left Mapai and Labour politicians who governed the country for its first 30 years.
Dr Ilana Shpaizman, a senior lecturer in the Department of Political Studies at Bar-Ilan University, explains: “There are still deep negative feelings towards Labour and the old left because of the discrimination many Mizrahim experienced.
“Even though Likud has governed almost continuously since 1977, many still see the left as representing the old Ashkenazi establishment that discriminated against them.”
She says security is another key factor. “For many families, memories of persecution or conflict in Arab countries continue to shape political identity.”
At the same time, she argues, both Likud and the Haredi party Shas have built enduring support by presenting themselves as empowering Mizrahim and addressing historical discrimination.
SingerJo Amar gave voice to the Mizrahi experience[Missing Credit]
But after decades of unwavering loyalty, a new challenger is threatening to break Likud’s grip on its traditional Mizrahi base.
Gadi Eisenkot, the son of Moroccan immigrants who grew up in a working-class family, is increasingly being viewed as a potential threat to Likud’s support among Mizrahi voters, particularly those who have grown disillusioned with Netanyahu’s government.
If he succeeds, the leader of the new centrist Yashar party would become Israel’s first prime minister of Mizrahi descent. It is a prospect that has fuelled concern within Likud that, for the first time, one of its most dependable voting blocs could begin to slip away.
Shpaizman says: “People feel abandoned because of everything that happened: October 7, the evacuation from the north, the lack of rehabilitation in both the north and the south, and what they see as government spending being directed towards the settlements and the Strictly Orthodox at the expense of the periphery.
“Many Mizrahi families also send their children to combat units, while Netanyahu’s government is actively trying to exempt the Strictly Orthodox from military service. That is another major source of frustration.”
Mizrahi child refugees in the early years of Israel[Missing Credit]
Towns that have traditionally voted Likud have become more sceptical about whether Netanyahu’s party is actually delivering on its promises.
According to insiders, the greatest worry for Likud is probably less that these Mizrahim defect to other parties but instead that many of such voters simply stay home. In this scenario, ideologically, they cannot bring themselves to vote for the left or centre-left, but at the same time they feel Likud abandoned them.
However, a Likud insider told the JC they are not overly concerned. “We know that traditionally there is a very devoted Likud vote, and many Mizrahi voters are the core base of the party.
“Likud remains very popular and very strong among Mizrahi voters. We don’t believe the fact that Eisenkot is Moroccan will have a major impact. It may have a very small effect, but in our internal polling Likud remains the most popular party within this community, and we do not see him taking significant numbers of our seats.”
The biggest problem for Eisenkot is his political partners. Likud will argue that he cannot form a government without Arab parties and left-wing politicians whom many right-wing voters deeply distrust.
“That will be a major focus of the campaign. Even if voters identify with Eisenkot personally or culturally, they may reject the coalition they believe he would have to build.” says the source.
“Every election, someone new is presented as the messiah of the anti-Netanyahu camp—the person who will take all the seats and become its biggest star. Before Eisenkot it was Naftali Bennett, before Bennett it was Yair Lapid, and before that it was Benny Gantz.
“We believe the same bloc of voters largely remains intact. They simply move from one party to another and from one candidate to another,” says the insider.
There is another party leader with Mizrachi roots: Itamar Ben-Gvir, of the far-right Otzma Yehudit. The security minister in the coalition government has found global notoriety with his appetite for attention-grabbing outrage, including the taunting of flotilla activists that Netanyahu condemned earlier this year.
But what do his fellow Mizrahim make of him?
“Ben-Gvir is a slightly different story,” says Shpaizman.
“Many of his supporters in the periphery are poorer and less educated, which is consistent with patterns we see in many countries where the far right performs strongly. This is not unique to Israel.”
Or Akiva Music Centre, in the mostly Mizrahi city up the coast from Tel Aviv (Wikipedia)[Missing Credit]
However, his appeal is limited, it seems: “Based on current polling, Ben-Gvir is not dramatically expanding his support.
“He is largely maintaining the same base: right-wing voters from the periphery together with religious Zionist voters, especially from the West Bank.
“He is also trying to attract some Strictly Orthodox voters, but we’re talking about perhaps one seat shifting.”
The Likud source argued that intense criticism of Netanyahu by the media and legal establishment can ultimately strengthen his standing among those Mizrahim who are right-wing and will interpret his treatment through the lens of their families’ own experiences of exclusion.
In their eyes, the same establishment that once marginalised Moroccan immigrants is now targeting their children and grandchildren, meaning attacks intended to weaken Netanyahu can instead reinforce old loyalties and draw voters back to their political roots.
Yet even those who admire the achievements of the prime minister are asking if his time is drawing to a close.
One devoted Likudnik told the JC: “I’ve always been Likud my whole life, but I think Bibi now – God bless him – needs to retire. He needs to rest. It needs fresh leadership.”
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