Journalist says Israeli election shows little split between parties

Antony Loewenstein says a large share of Israeli Jewish voters do not want Arabs in government.

The independent journalist and author of The Palestine Laboratory told Middle East Eye on October 28 that the gap between the two main political sides is small. Netanyahu’s block currently appears slightly ahead, though final results may shift in the coming weeks.

Loewenstein stated that there is not a major difference between Netanyahu and the opposition on key issues such as Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank. He argued that many Jewish voters do not believe in Arab self-determination. He said a large proportion of the electorate wants to remove Arabs from Palestine and from Israel itself.

Arab parties won a large share of the vote in this election. Loewenstein noted that this result likely reflects support from Palestinian citizens of Israel and some left-wing Jewish voters who backed those lists.

He observed that in a typical democracy, those voters would hold seats in the government or a strong opposition. However, both the leading parties have refused to form a coalition that includes them. Loewenstein concluded that this dynamic shows that Jewish supremacy is the law of the land.