Israel elections: Palestinian state caught between Netanyahu’s incitement, Eisenkot’s rejection

a warning splashed across large campaign billboards hanging over bridges and roads across Israel ahead of the Oct. 27 election. The slogan urges Israelis to vote for right-wing parties by portraying an opposition victory as opening the way for the establishment of a Palestinian state, Anadolu reports.

Yet, the Palestinian state that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing allies repeatedly invoke as an election threat is largely absent from the political programs of the main opposition parties in Israel.

Those parties broadly agree that a political settlement with the Palestinians is currently unattainable, although their positions range from maintaining the status quo while providing Palestinians with certain measures of relief to restoring relations with the Palestinian Authority (PA).

The right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party, led by opposition leader Avigdor Lieberman, has gone further by advocating the dissolution of the PA.

Netanyahu and his allies are betting that warnings that an opposition government could lead to Palestinian statehood will mobilize right-wing voters to turn out on Oct. 27.

Opinion polls indicate that neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor the opposition is currently able on its own to reach the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-member Knesset to form a government.

Although most opposition leaders have repeatedly said they will not seek support from Arab parties to secure a governing majority, Netanyahu and his partners claim they will ultimately resort to seeking Arab support.

Arab citizens make up more than 20% of Israel’s population of more than 10 million.

If neither bloc succeeds in forming a government, Israelis could face another election several months later, with the current government remaining in a caretaker capacity until a new coalition is formed.

‘We are in no one’s pocket’

Yousef Jabareen, chairman of the Joint List, an alliance of three Arab parties, said Tuesday that any support for an opposition candidate seeking to form a government will come with conditions.

“Our top priority is to bring down the bloodshed government that has made our lives miserable over recent years,” Jabareen told a conference organized by the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

He said the Joint List will be prepared to provide a parliamentary “safety net” for a “real and substantive alternative” to Netanyahu’s government.

“A strong and large Joint List can be a decisive factor,” he said.

Jabareen added that he is not currently holding talks with the so-called “change bloc,” referring to the opposition parties.

“We do not give anyone a blank check, and we are in no one’s pocket,” he said. “When they realize there are no other options but to cooperate with us, we will begin negotiations and present our demands.”

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Asked about those demands, Jabareen said: “We are part of the Palestinian people.”

“The entire world supports the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel on the 1967 borders, with both states living in peace,” he added.

He called for a “political horizon that brings hope, peace and economic prosperity.”

Of the UN’s 193 member states, 160 recognize the State of Palestine, according to the Palestinian Foreign Ministry. Palestine is also a member of more than 100 international organizations and treaties.

Palestine has held UN non-member observer state status since 2012, while the US has repeatedly used its veto at the Security Council to block full UN membership.

Netanyahu’s incitement

Netanyahu and his coalition partners quickly portrayed Jabareen’s comments as proof that Palestinian parties will demand the establishment of a Palestinian state in return for supporting the Israeli opposition.

Referring to Jabareen, Netanyahu wrote Tuesday on US social media platform X: “Eisenkot and Lieberman’s partner: We will establish a Palestinian state.”

Gadi Eisenkot leads the opposition Yashar party, while Lieberman heads the Yisrael Beiteinu party.

Seeking to rally right-wing voters, Netanyahu said: “If we do not go out and vote, we will get a left-wing government led by Eisenkot and Lieberman that will establish a Palestinian state.”

He said voting for his Likud party is “the only way to prevent it.”

Netanyahu is standing trial on corruption charges, which he denies. He also faces an International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued in November 2024 over war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, also attacked Jabareen’s comments Tuesday.

“Just two days after announcing his intention to provide a safety net for a government headed by Eisenkot, the chairman of the Joint List reveals his dangerous plan to establish a terrorist state in the heart of Israel,” Smotrich wrote on X.

“Lieberman will ask him to remain silent, and Eisenkot will rush to deny it, but the truth remains: This is what Israel will look like if the left comes to power,” he added.

Eisenkot opposes 2-state formula

Eisenkot himself, however, rejects the two-state formula.

“My position on the Palestinian issue has remained consistent: The principle of two states for two peoples is a mistake,” he told Israel’s Channel 7 podcast Sunday.

He also strongly rejected the idea of a binational state that would incorporate millions of Palestinians as Israeli citizens.

“I believe annexing 2.8 million Palestinians in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and another 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip will be a disaster for Israel. I do not want that.”

A binational state entails the establishment of a single state for Jews and Palestinians in the region extending between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea — that is, historic Palestine.

“I want a state that is the homeland of the Jewish people, with a strong Jewish majority — a strong state that is confident in itself,” he added.

Eisenkot also rejected Lieberman’s proposal to dissolve the PA, establish an Israeli-Jordanian confederation across roughly half of the occupied West Bank and annex the remainder to Israel.

“I strongly oppose it,” Eisenkot said. “I oppose any Jordanian deployment or involvement in Judea and Samaria. Responsibility rests solely with the Israeli army.”

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He said he will not object to a Palestinian police force handling civilian affairs as long as overall security control remained in Israeli hands.

“There is no other military force between the river and the sea,” he said.

Eisenkot did not offer an alternative political solution to the Palestinian issue.

On Gaza, he said Israel should focus on dismantling Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, creating a different governing authority in the enclave and conducting a long-term process aimed at preventing a repeat of the Oct. 7, 2023 events.

Eisenkot also criticized Netanyahu’s government, saying the US had effectively taken responsibility for arrangements involving Iran, Gaza and Lebanon.

He nevertheless said any agreement concluded by the Israeli government with Washington will also bind him and that he would insist on implementing it.

Netanyahu has headed the current government since late December 2022, a coalition widely described as the most right-wing in Israel’s history.

Conditions for joining government

Asked how he would form a government if the opposition failed to win at least 61 Knesset seats, and whether he would rely on Arab parties, Eisenkot laid out four principles that he said would be prerequisites for joining a government he leads.

They include recognizing Israel as “a Jewish, democratic and liberal state.”

He also demanded acceptance of mandatory military, national or civilian service for all citizens — Jews, Arabs and ultra-Orthodox Jews — and support for dismantling Hamas’ military and governing capabilities.

“When I look at the Arab parties, I do not see any Arab party that accepts the four principles,” he said. “That is why it does not matter whether you ask me about this person or that person.”

Asked specifically whether Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas could join his government, Eisenkot said: “Mansour Abbas does not accept the four principles, so he is not part of my government.”

He similarly ruled out the Joint List led by Jabareen as a coalition partner under those conditions.

​​​​​​​Asked about accusations that he is a leftist who supports evacuating illegal settlements and establishing a Palestinian state, Eisenkot rejected the characterization.

“I have never defined myself as left-wing,” he said. “I have defined myself as an Israeli patriot and someone who loves the land.”

“I support Jewish settlement under two conditions,” he added. “First, that it is in accordance with Israel’s map of national interests, and second, that it complies with the law.”

Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 1967. Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian territory are considered illegal under international law.

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