Israeli election tests Netanyahu after October 7 attacks

Israelis vote Tuesday in their first parliamentary election since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s future at stake. His supporters credit him with protecting the country. His opponents say the security failure demands a change in leadership.

Tens of thousands marched in Tel Aviv demanding that Netanyahu’s government answer for the failures that preceded the attacks, CBS News reported. “We cannot be a dictatorship!” one woman said at the protest. “And we cannot have these criminals running our country.” Thirty-nine parties are running, but the contest centers on a leader who has dominated Israeli politics for three decades.

NPR reported that nearly 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas attacks and 251 were taken hostage to Gaza. Netanyahu denies receiving warnings beforehand and has not accepted responsibility for the security failure. NPR reported that Palestinian mediator Sufian Abu Zaida said he passed Israeli intelligence a warning from Hamas’ leader in Gaza about an impending “earthquake.” The outlet also reported that the leader of the United Arab Emirates and Egypt’s intelligence chief conveyed similar warnings.

The question of accountability has followed Netanyahu through the ensuing wars. His former officials have alleged that he prolonged the Gaza war for political reasons, a charge he denies, NPR reported. Netanyahu said he sought Hamas’ total defeat. A hostage deal was reached after two years of fighting, according to NPR.

The election also comes amid disputes over changes that sidelined Israel’s judiciary and Netanyahu’s ongoing trial on corruption charges. At a market outside Tel Aviv, restaurant owner Benny Abraham told CBS News he would vote for Netanyahu’s Likud party. “Bibi can handle the whole world,” he said, using the prime minister’s nickname. “He’s the king of Israel.” Another voter, Liat, said Netanyahu had done good things for Israel, “but no more.”

Former military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot leads the opposition challenge. His son was killed fighting Hamas after the Gaza war began. Eisenkot left Netanyahu’s government in 2024, accusing him of prolonging the war and delaying a hostage deal to satisfy right-wing coalition partners, CBS News reported. NPR described his opposition as center-right and said it promises more diplomacy and less extremism.

Political analyst Dahlia Scheindlin told CBS News that Eisenkot wants a state commission of inquiry into Oct. 7 and a draft for the ultra-Orthodox, two major issues for the opposition. Polls show his party clearly ahead, CBS News reported, but he would probably need at least four other parties to form a government. Scheindlin cautioned that Netanyahu’s coalition-building experience could still keep him in office.

The vote is drawing Israelis home from abroad because the country does not allow absentee ballots, NPR reported. Lawyer Shoula Romano-Horing flew from Kansas City to vote for Netanyahu, saying she wanted Israel to be “so secure and so safe.” Yochai Ben-Haim, who works in California, said he was returning for 36 hours to vote against a government he said was led by extremists.

For Margalit Moses, 80, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7, the choice is about changing course. Nearly a third of her community’s residents were killed or captured, CBS News reported. She said she hoped a new government would move toward the center or left and seek peace with Arabs.