Nearly one year into the Gaza war, public opinion in Israel has been so influenced by the incumbent government’s extremist and iron-fisted policies toward the Palestinians, Lebanon and the moribund two-state solution—that the positions of current right-wing politicians are increasingly looking centrist and are garnering more support from the average Israeli citizen.
This trend was reflected in recent polls that gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing Likud party an edge over other parties if elections were held last month. Israel has an empty centre.
Netanyahu came to power in December 2022 after forming a 64-member coalition in the 120-seat Israeli Knesset—comprised mostly of his Likud party with 32 seats and Religious Zionists with 14 seats. After months of plummeting popularity in the aftermath of 7 October 2023, Netanyahu’s approval rating has climbed for the first time since the start of the Gaza war.
Subsequent polls since at least May have seen it steadily rise. This is a remarkable turnaround, given the fact that Israel is currently embroiled in the longest-running war in its history and looks to be heading towards an escalated war with Hezbollah in Lebanon—and possibly a direct war with Iran itself.
Netanyahu’s rising popularity also comes despite his controversial judicial ‘reforms’ that have sparked the largest anti-government demonstrations since Israel was created in 1948, massive security failures under his watch, dozens of hostages not yet freed from Hamas captivity and his insistence on re-occupying (at least for now) parts of Gaza.
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How can this be explained? For starters, the saturation of the Israeli public with extremist rhetoric has increasingly pushed moderate opposition parties to the fringes. Extremist figures like National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotritch have been the key proponents of racist policies and criminal actions toward Palestinians—the former even being convicted of supporting a terrorist organisation.
