Imagine listening to a symphony – but you can only hear one section of the orchestra, and miss out on the rest of the score.
That is how much of the international media covers Israel. Outside observers fixate on one issue: the Palestinians.
They interpret almost every event and decision through that single lens. But for Israelis, that is only one part of a much larger story.
The melody may be recognisable, but it is incomplete and often misleading.
One senior political source told the JC: “There is a pandemic of illiteracy when it comes to observers of the upcoming Israeli elections.
"The world only sees Israel through the conflict of the prism of the conflict, and so it only sees life in Israel through that viewing glass.
“The reality, of course, is much more complex. Israel is a vibrant democracy with many more issues other than the security threats it faces.
“Of course, all of those do exist under the shadow of October 7 – but in a way that is contrary to what I think many people around the world think, which is that off the back of October 7, Israel must find a way to make compromises with the Palestinians.”
Yashar party leader and former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot (GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP via Getty)AFP via Getty Images
If you want understand today’s Israel and its political scene (particularly now with the general election date set for October 27) you have to understand the issues dominating society across the board.
First is the aftermath of October 7. The attack fundamentally changed how Israelis think about security, intelligence, deterrence, and the state’s responsibilities.
It is the defining event of modern Israeli politics.
Thereafter, in no particular order, second is the place of the Haredi community serving in the military.
This has become one of the biggest contentious political debates.
Third is the broader political crisis. Israelis remain deeply divided over leadership, constitutional questions, judicial reform, and the future of the country’s political system.
Fourth is the economy. Despite fighting a prolonged war, Israel’s economy has proven far more resilient than many outside observers expected and maintaining that success remains central to domestic concerns.
In truth, from the domestic Israeli perspective, only then, after everything else, comes the Palestinian issue.
It is undeniably important, but it exists alongside these other questions rather than replacing them.
Yet much of the outside world behaves as though only issue number five exists. That misunderstanding has consequences.
Foreign governments and international media often evaluate Israeli policy almost exclusively through the prism of the conflict with the Palestinians.
Israeli governments, however, are making decisions while also navigating post-war trauma.
Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP via Getty)AFP via Getty Images
One senior political source observes the effect of that gap between domestic priorities and the perception from abroad: “This explains why Israeli leaders often appear indifferent—or even hostile—to foreign criticism.
“If Israelis believe that criticism ignores the country’s actual political realities, it carries far less weight domestically. Leaders answer first to Israeli voters, not to foreign editorial boards.”
The source points to a further gap that may surprise some observers in the UK, Western Europe and even parts of the US: “There is another misconception: that Israel has become universally isolated.
“Western Europe has undoubtedly become more critical of Israeli policy, but that is not the whole world.
“Many governments in Eastern Europe continue to be strongly supportive. Several countries in Latin America have also maintained close ties.
“The international picture is far more diverse than the narrative often presented in English-language media.”
Foreign policy is not what currently dominates Israeli politics.
The central question confronting voters is whether Benjamin Netanyahu should remain prime minister after almost two decades in power.
A Channel 13 poll published last week placed his Likud party on 22 seats, narrowly ahead of Gadi Eisenkot’s newly formed Yashar party on 21. Former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s Together alliance followed on 15 seats.
Remember, whoever forms a government will need to assemble a coalition of at least 61 seats to form a majority in the Knesset.
The poll suggested that a coalition of Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar, Naftali Bennett’s Together, Yair Golan’s Democrats, Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu, and the newly formed Hendel-Tropper alliance could come near to that target, perhaps even forming a government without relying on Arab parties who currently poll at 9 seats collectively.
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, now leader of opposition party Together (ABIR SULTAN/POOL/AFP via Getty)POOL/AFP via Getty Images
So what can be said about Yashar as the newly emerging force?
The answer illustrates just how fluid Israeli politics has become. New parties routinely emerge before elections, often built around prominent personalities.
Yashar (meaning Straight or Direct), led by former Israel Defence Forces chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, is the latest example.
Having served as Israel’s military chief from 2015 to 2019, Eisenkot has transformed himself from one of the country’s most respected security figures into perhaps the most consequential newcomer of the campaign – the election’s “dark horse”.
His rise has reshaped what had been expected to be a contest between Netanyahu and the opposition alliance led by Bennett and Yair Lapid. His 25-year-old son, Gal Meir Eisenkot, an IDF reservist, was killed in Gaza in December 2023 after an explosive device detonated in a Hamas tunnel shaft.
The following day, his nephew, Sgt. Maor Cohen Eisenkot, was killed fighting in Gaza.
In November 2024, another nephew, Capt. Yogev Pazy, was killed during operations in northern Gaza. Those losses, Israelis say, have given Eisenkot unusual moral authority in Israeli politics.
Unlike many politicians, he is seen as someone who personally paid the price of the war while also serving in the war cabinet.
Eisenkot joined Netanyahu’s emergency war cabinet after 7 October but resigned shortly after, arguing that the government lacked a coherent strategy for the war.
His departure helped cement his image as a principled critic of the prime minister. He is seen as a hawk: as a senior military commander, Eisenkot propounded the “Dahiya Doctrine” – the idea that Israel should use overwhelming force against areas used by militant groups such as Hezbollah to deter future attacks.
Equally significantly, he is seen as fair. During his tenure as IDF chief of staff, he defended the conviction of soldier Elor Azaria, who shot a wounded Palestinian attacker whom the courts determined posed no further threat in Hebron in 2016.
Many saw his stance as defending the IDF’s ethical standards.
Eisenkot comes from a working-class Mizrahi background. Raised in Eilat by his Moroccan immigrant family, his father worked in the Timna copper mines, while his mother held a series of manual jobs after the couple divorced.
Following Menachem Begin’s victory in 1977, Moroccan and broader Mizrahi communities came to form one of Likud’s core electoral bases.
The Mizrahi continue to vote for Likud in large numbers - and there are big questions about how many will defect to Yashar.
That could be electorally significant, seeing as Israelis with Moroccan roots alone make up about one million of the population.
If the Channel 13 poll proves accurate, it would mark one of Likud’s weakest electoral performances in decades. Although the party remains the largest single faction in those latest numbers, 22 seats would be among its poorest showings since Netanyahu resumed leadership the party.
Likud’s historic low remains the 2006 election, when it collapsed to just 12 seats following Ariel Sharon’s departure to form Kadima.
The remainder of the poll reflects an increasingly fragmented political map. Yair Golan’s left-wing Democrats were projected to win 11 seats, Avigdor Liberman’s right-wingers Yisrael Beytenu 10, while ultra-nationalist Yoaz Hendel’s new alliance with centrist Chili Tropper scraped past the electoral threshold with four seats, providing the opposition with a narrow governing majority.
Netanyahu’s coalition partners remained relatively stable. The Strictly Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas, were projected to win eight and seven seats respectively, alongside seven for Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit and six for Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism.
The Arab parties Hadash-Ta’al and Ra’am were forecast to secure five and four seats respectively, while Balad and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White failed to cross the electoral threshold.
For months, most polls suggested that the anti-Netanyahu bloc would fall just short of a parliamentary majority unless it relied on support from Arab parties—an option most opposition leaders have rejected.
This latest survey is the first significant poll in weeks to suggest that the opposition could reach 61 seats on its own.
Amid the balagan that is Israeli politics, it has long been a touchpoint of wisdom that Netanyahu the great survivor will prevail.
That may now be in question – and it is Eisenkot who could be the new face on the world stage.
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