A report published by the Israeli newspaper "Jerusalem Post" says that the "disaster" of the attack by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on October 7 caused a radical shift in the political landscape of Israel.

Report author Herb Kennon explained that common sense dictates this conclusion, historical precedent confirms it, and opinion polls show its inevitability.

He added that Israel on December 20 is not Israel on October 6, and everyone realizes that. Israel's confidence in itself and in its political and military leaders has been damaged, and its sense of security has declined.

He stressed that Israel is currently gripped by anxiety and anger, and there is burning hatred towards Hamas, and there is intense anger towards the government, and he wondered: How can Israel fail so miserably?

Indications of anger

He pointed out that one of the indicators of anger is the reluctance of government ministers and members of the Knesset (Parliament) to appear in public, and the small number of prominent politicians who visit the wounded in hospitals or even attend funerals these days, which were common courtesy in the past, due to concern about the reactions they will receive.

The writer recalled a precedent that he said would help make it likely that an earthquake would occur in the political scene after the war, saying that in October 1973, Israel faced a similar disaster, the Yom Kippur War, which turned society and the political scene upside down which caused intense anger, frustration, and thousands of victims, and caused the left to lose its dominance over politics since the founding of Israel, and brought the right (starting with Menachem Begin) to dominate for most of the next 50 years.

He added that it is certain that the October 7 attack will not push Israel to the left, in any way similar to the October War of 1973, but it will lead to something different. The political constellation in the country will change, even if the balance between the right and the left is unlikely to change significantly. There will be dramatic shifts within the blocs (right, left, and center), although there will be few significant changes between them.

The expected political map

He explained that what is likely is that the National Unity Bloc, led by Benny Gantz, will advance by a large margin over any of the current parties in the Knesset, and that Likud and Yesh Atid will fall sharply, as will the Religious Zionist Party, while Yisrael Beytenu will add seats, and the “Jewish Greatness” party and the Arab parties will remain. The Haredi parties are fairly stable.

He also said that there will be other parties. Former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen may lead a party, and Yair Golan may lead the Meretz party, whose stock rose significantly after his “brave” actions during the Hamas attack, a unified left-wing party. There is also talk of forming a party from the leaders of the anti-judicial reform protest movement.

In general, the parties competing in the upcoming elections will be completely different from the formation last time.

The writer concluded his report by saying that opinion polls indicate that much of the public will not allow the Israeli political scene to return to what it was before after the war.

Source: Aljazeera+ Jerusalem Post