A kibbutz counts its losses and its votes
Gal Cohen, 61, walks beside a memorial wall at Kibbutz Be'eri bearing the names of the men, women and children killed when Hamas attacked on October 7, 2023. One in ten residents of the community died that day, part of the 1,200 people killed across Israel in the deadliest single day in the country's history, and dozens more from Be'eri were among the 251 taken hostage into Gaza.[S1]
Cohen argues that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should have accepted responsibility and left office, and he describes the completion of a full term as an insult. He says the election is a critical moment for the country and warns that a continued government would break many hearts and minds and make it very hard to carry on.[S1]
Be'eri, founded in 1946 and home to roughly 1,000 people, embodies the socialist values that shaped Israeli politics in its early decades. Almost all of its ballots went to the centre-left in the 2022 election, when only about 4% backed parties in Netanyahu's nationalist-religious coalition. Cohen says residents have shifted two clicks to the right since the attack, yet he expects most to remain with the parties seeking to replace the government.[S1]
A reckoning that may not arrive
Opponents of the prime minister see the ballot as a long-delayed chance to deliver a verdict on the worst security failure in generations. Yet even if Israel's longest-serving premier loses his majority, he could avoid the decisive defeat his critics want, because the alliance of right, left and centre parties trying to unseat him also lacks a clear path to power.[S1][S2][S3][S4][S5]
Netanyahu has refused to accept blame for the breach and has resisted calls for an independent inquiry. He argues that Israel's campaigns against Hamas in Gaza and against its allies in Lebanon and Iran will produce a more peaceful Middle East, and he tells voters that the task will be finished only when Iran's clerical leadership falls, presenting himself as the only leader with the conviction and standing to achieve it.[S1]
Opinion surveys have for months forecast a steep decline for Netanyahu's Likud party. The fragmented picture suggests months of political stalemate, with the prime minister potentially remaining at the head of a caretaker government.[S1]
Hostage families keep accountability in view
Over roughly the last three years, a major focus of anti-government feeling has been the relatives of captives taken in Gaza; some of these families charged the authorities with shirking blame and failing to do enough to bring their loved ones back. An open area in Tel Aviv came to be called Hostages Square, where demonstrations and vigils were held continuously. Even though the final captives were returned a year ago under a ceasefire brokered by the United States, these families are still among the loudest voices calling for accountability.[S1]
Ofri Bibas, whose young nephews and their mother were killed in captivity in Gaza and whose brother Yarden was freed in an early 2025 truce, says she sees no legitimate reason for the government to seek another term. She says her aim is to make every Israeli carry the memory of October 7 into election day and to recall who has still not taken responsibility.[S1]
On Saturday, thousands of Israelis assembled at Hostages Square. Danielle Alony, who was seized from Nir Oz together with her five-year-old daughter and released a few weeks afterward during a short-lived truce, called on those gathered to cast ballots. She said that in three days the country could open a new chapter for its children, one in which truth prevails over fear, accountability prevails over neglect, and hope prevails over suffering.[S1]
Miri Gad Messika, 48, a third-generation resident of Be'eri, has not settled on her choice but knows it will not be Netanyahu. She says he failed repeatedly as a leader and should no longer be in politics, and that she is searching for a leader at a moment when she finds it hard to identify one in Israel, while still hoping for a better change.[S1]
