Europe Calling “Elections in Israel: What happens now?”
Dear friends,
On October 27th a new parliament and government are set to be elected in Israel. There is a lot at stake for Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right coalition. The change bloc challenging Netanyahu is led by the new centre-right Yashar party, headed by Gadi Eisenkot, a former IDF chief of staff.
Organisations from the civil society in Israel are voicing concerns about how the current government is influencing public opinion, and whether there will be undue interference before, during or after the elections. Fair elections are not a given, as the Netanyahu government does not necessarily adhere to the rule of law, with democratic backsliding happening for years.
The ongoing genocidal war in Gaza and settler terrorism in the West Bank, which is backed by the Army and the state, as well as the annexation of land and the unprecedented expansion of illegal outposts and settlements in the West Bank, are central issues at this time. However, during the elections, the political discourse focuses on Netanyahu and his coalition’s responsibility for the October 7th massacre, judicial overhaul run by the coalition to weaken the courts and undermine the rule of law, and the alleged corruption and incompetence of the current coalition.
While the current government has tried to ban the two main Arab-majority parties, in the end only the ban of one individual candidate was approved by the court. Still, the turnout among Palestinian citizens is expected to be the highest in decades. This clearly reflects how much is at stake. Issues like the unprecedented rate of deadly violence in the Arab community, which the government refuses to deal with, and the threat to the civil rights of the Palestinian citizens under the current government, will likely drive many Palestinian citizens to the polls.
What do the elections mean for Israel & Palestine, and for the region? Will they happen in a free and fair manner? What is the state of democracy and rule of law in Israel? And what is the aftermath of the elections like?
Join us as we discuss these questions with our panel:
- Raluca Ganea is Co-Founder and Executive Director “Zazim – Community Action”, the largest campaigning community in Israel, a movement of citizens, Arabs and Jews, working together for democracy, equality, and joint, active civic engagement.
- Dr Ameer Fakhoury is the Academic Director of the Center for the Study of Binationalism at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute. His work focuses on Palestinian politics within Israeli citizenship, nationalism, minority citizenship, political boundary-making, interdependence, and Jewish-Palestinian relations. Alongside his academic work, he is involved in public and institutional initiatives promoting Jewish-Palestinian partnership and is among the leaders of A Land for All.
- Moderation: Amélie Pasmanns and Maximilian Fries from Europe Calling e.V.
When? Monday, 2nd of November 2026, 19:00-20:30 CET, 20:00-21:30 TLV
Where? LINK
Hosted by: Zazim and Europe Calling
The webinar will be in English with simultaneous translation into German.
Join us and invite others.
Amélie and Max for Europe Calling