Guardian Says Israel Election Could Shape Palestinians’ Future
The Guardian says Israel’s October 27 election is not only a contest to form a government, but could also have a decisive impact on the future of Palestinians and the course of developments in the occupied West Bank. The newspaper says critics warn that the result could have profound consequences both for Israel’s domestic political system and for the condition of the Palestinian territories.
Jonathan Freedland, a Guardian correspondent, said in a report after visiting the occupied territories that some of the Israelis he spoke to described the election as the most important in Israel’s history. According to him, some of them fear that if Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing alliance returns to power, this election could be Israel’s last.
In his report, Freedland pointed to signs of what he described as the “collapse of political life.” Among other things, he referred to Netanyahu’s support for calls to strip Israeli filmmakers of their citizenship after they were targeted for making a film critical of the Israeli army’s actions in the Gaza Strip.
The author says these allegations are part of a political campaign based on misinformation and the promotion of conspiracy theories, aimed at diverting public attention from Netanyahu’s failures. He also quotes Israeli activist Yehuda Shaul as saying that Israel’s official institutions and courts, despite their weakness in defending Palestinian rights, still retain the ability to change course, and that their collapse could push Israel to the “brink.”
The Guardian also described the expansion of settlements in the West Bank as one of the major consequences of political developments in Israel. According to the report, around 250 new Israeli settlements and outposts have been established since 2023, which the author says have turned Palestinian towns into “isolated islands” and destroyed the geographic continuity needed to form a stable Palestinian state.
Freedland wrote that Netanyahu’s cabinet has pursued settlement expansion while the influence of Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right minister, has grown, and has turned a blind eye to violence by extremist settlers. The West Bank is one of the main Palestinian territories and has long been at the centre of the dispute over settlements and the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
