Do any of these Israeli candidates support a Palestinian state?
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any → support → state
On September 26, five leading members of Israel’s self-styled Zionist opposition signed a non-aggression pact, seeking to oust incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu in the October 27 election.
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members → lead → election
Gathered at the Tel Aviv home of opposition leader Yair Lapid were his co-runner, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, leader of Beyachad; former Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the new Yashar party; Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats party; and Avigdor Liberman, head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party.
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war → gather → election
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opposition → hedge → style
Netanyahu goes, does anything really change for Palestinians?
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anything → go → Palestinians
In the statement of principles published after the hours-long meeting, the leaders said, “Despite ideological differences among us, the formation of a Zionist, statesmanlike government dedicated to repair and reconstruction is our shared overarching goal.”
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formation → publish → repair
However, whether they offer meaningful change in substance as well as style, or which one of them might lead a future coalition, remains open to question.
uncertain
one → offer → question
With the exception of Golan, all take a fundamentally right-wing approach to Israel’s challenges.
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all → take → challenges
None is committed to establishing a Palestinian state, with only the Democrats acknowledging it as a distant, unspecified goal.
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Democrats → commit → goal
None, Golan included, accepts that Israel’s war on Gaza amounts to genocide or that it has committed war crimes in killing more than 74,000 people there.
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it → include → people
Nor has any questioned Israeli military actions against Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Qatar and Iran, instead reserving criticism mostly for how those actions have allowed Israel to be perceived internationally.
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Israel → question → criticism
“The dominant forces in the opposition such as Bennett, Liberman or Eisenkot represent right-wing politics,” said Ahron Bregman, an Israeli analyst and senior teaching fellow at King’s College London.
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Bregman → represent → London
“They are not willing to touch the real, fundamental issue which is at the heart of everything: the Palestinian issue, and the Palestinian aspirations for independence.”
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which → touch → independence
He likened them to Netanyahu, but without the corruption allegations and support of far-right figures, such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
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He → liken → Gvir
“Israel as a whole is a right-wing nation,” he added.
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he → add → whole
So, who are the main opposition figures and what do their parties stand for?
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parties → stand → what
Gadi Eisenkot – Yashar
Credited with originating the Dahiyeh Doctrine in 2008, involving “disproportionate force” and large-scale destruction of civilian infrastructure against groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, Eisenkot served as Israeli military chief from 2015 to 2019.
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Eisenkot → credit → 2019
The 66-year-old entered politics in 2022 with former Defence Minister Benny Gantz’s National Unity alliance and later joined the war cabinet assembled by Netanyahu after the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
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year → enter → October
In December that year, his son Gal, 25, and two nephews were killed while participating in the genocide in Gaza, losses commentators say have helped forge a connection with an electorate that has come to see itself as scarred by war.
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that → kill → war
In June 2024, he quit the war cabinet alongside Gantz, accusing Netanyahu of lacking a strategy to end the war.
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he → quit → war
A year later, Eisenkot founded the centrist Yashar (Straight/Honest), advocating for professional government, military service for all – including ultra-Orthodox Jews – and a state commission of inquiry into the failings before October 7.
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Eisenkot → found → October
While notoriously ambiguous on many of Israel’s foreign policy positions, he has been critical of the government’s reliance upon the United States in achieving its war aims, while not questioning those aims themselves.
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he → achieve → aims
In June, he characterised Washington’s mediated negotiations with Tehran to end the war against Iran that Washington had embarked upon with Israel as “a deal taking shape far from here and far from Israeli interests” and, the same month, railed against US restrictions on Israel’s freedom of action in Lebanon.
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Washington → characterise → Lebanon
Eisenkot has ruled out including the United Arab List, or Ra’am party, in a post-election coalition.
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Eisenkot → rule → coalition
In a September 26 Channel 12 interview, he said no Arab party would accept his conditions, including recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.
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party → say → state
Naftali Bennett, Yair Lapid – Beyachad
Beyachad (Together) is the joint list announced in April 2026 by former Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, who served for a combined 18 months in 2021-2022 between Netanyahu governments.
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who → announce → governments
Bennett, a 54-year-old longtime supporter of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, leads the list, with Lapid, the 62-year-old founder of the centrist Yesh Atid party, in second place.
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Lapid → lead → place
Lapid has called his partner “a right-wing politician, but an honest one”.
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Lapid → call → partner
Neither has prioritised resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or supported a Palestinian state.
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Neither → prioritise → state
Though their 2021 coalition included Ra’am, Bennett has acknowledged that this broke an electoral promise.
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this → include → promise
Lapid has been one of Israel’s most outspoken critics of how its genocide and multiple strikes upon its neighbours are perceived internationally, while rarely questioning the rationale behind those actions.
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genocide → perceive → actions
A full-throated supporter of the country’s war on Iran, he also congratulated Israel’s military and security services for a September 2025 attack on Qatar’s capital, Doha, that targeted senior Hamas leaders as they met to consider a Gaza ceasefire proposal put forth by the US.
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they → congratulate → US
A Qatari security official was killed in the attack, which drew condemnation from across the region and beyond.
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which → kill → region
They now seek a government composed solely of Zionist parties, also ruling out reliance on Arab parties.
Avigdor Lieberman – Yisrael Beiteinu
The most hawkish voice at Lapid’s table, Lieberman, 68, founded Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) in 1999 to represent right-leaning Russian-speaking immigrants.
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Lieberman → seek → immigrants
Once Netanyahu’s protege, Lieberman has ruled out serving under him or joining a coalition that includes the ultra-Orthodox or relies on Arab parties, which he calls anti-Zionist.
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he → rule → which
He has also rejected a minority government, reportedly making him a principal obstacle to Eisenkot becoming the bloc’s prime ministerial candidate.
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Eisenkot → reject → government
In November 2023, Lieberman repeated his 2018 assertion, made then as defence minister, that there were “no innocents in Gaza”.
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Lieberman → repeat → Gaza
In February, he visited the Karem Abu Salem crossing, known as Kerem Shalom to Israelis, and accused Netanyahu’s government of funding Hamas by allowing the minimal humanitarian aid that has been permitted into Gaza.
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that → visit → Gaza
In September 2025, he joined other Israeli politicians in criticising Netanyahu for the apology to Doha that he had been forced to make by the Trump administration for that month’s strike, saying the apology was instead owed to the Israeli public.
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apology → join → public
Equally, he has argued against any restraint in its invasion of Lebanon, telling the Jerusalem Post in March: “If once again we go for a limited operation, some manoeuvre near the border, maybe talk about a security zone, it’s complete madness.”
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it → argue → zone
…and 13 more, not listed.
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