Israel’s political scene has suffered a state of prolonged and deep restlessness in recent years, more than ever before. Regardless of the 7th October events and the exhausting war that followed — which left Israel fundamentally altered from the one we knew before — the country had already been on edge for years. Israel witnessed four general elections in four consecutive years, searching for a fragile stability that was never found.

The first of these four general elections took place in 2019 and continued through 2022, mostly bringing the same face back to the prime minister’s office — Benjamin Netanyahu — except for the 2021 election, which brought another right-wing leader, Naftali Bennett, to the leadership of Israel. It was his first term, when he formed a coalition with the centrist Yair Lapid’s “Yesh Atid” party. Now, 2026 is shaping up to be what may be the decisive and unprecedented election in the history of the state of Israel — one that will decide far more than just who becomes the next prime minister and what kind of Knesset the country will have.

In a previous conversation I had with the Arab-Israeli Member of Knesset Aida Suleiman–Touma a couple of months ago, she mentioned that Israel’s 2026 elections are going to be a battle to decide full control of the conservative camp after years of intense political conflict between rival political camps. “The Israeli religious-nationalist front will do whatever it takes to maintain control over Israeli politics. I am even expecting violence to happen within the Jewish community in Israel amid the deepening polarisation in the state,” MK Suleiman–Touma said. “I don’t think that........

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