Growing international recognition of Palestinian statehood and a UN inquiry’s finding that Israel committed genocide in Gaza have not stopped leading candidates in Israel’s Oct. 27 election from campaigning against Palestinian independence and promising further military action.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right coalition pledge to double down on their policies in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. However, key opposition figures also reject Palestinian statehood, criticizing Netanyahu more for failing to dismantle Hamas than for the devastation of Gaza.
The parties differ over annexation, settlement expansion and who should govern parts of Palestinian territory. But their positions suggest that replacing Netanyahu would not necessarily break with policies that have prolonged the occupation and denied Palestinians sovereignty.
Here is where the main parties stand on Gaza, settlements and Palestinian self-government. All seat projections come from an Oct. 14 Madad poll, which put the four coordinating opposition lists at 50 seats and Netanyahu’s existing coalition parties at 47 – both short of a 61-seat majority.
Netanyahu’s Likud leads the government that took office in December 2022 and oversaw the military campaign that devastated Gaza and killed nearly 75,000 people.
Netanyahu faces an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, including starvation as a method of warfare.
Still his party is polling second, with 18 projected seats.
On Gaza, he insists Hamas must fully disarm before Israeli forces end their occupation.
Likud portrays Palestinian statehood as a security threat, accusing opposition leaders of enabling it even when they explicitly reject it.
Its government has accelerated settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, with ministers presenting construction as a means of preventing Palestinian independence. Occupier violence against Palestinians has also increased.
At his September UN General Assembly speech, Netanyahu dismissed reports of record Israeli occupier violence against Palestinians in the West Bank as a “handful of young juvenile delinquents.”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism, a far-right coalition partner, received six projected seats and could again help Netanyahu govern.
Speaking on a Ynet podcast in September, Smotrich called for dismantling the Palestinian Authority and extending Israel’s genocidal war to the West Bank: “do there what we did in Gaza.”
He also demanded annexation of territory Israel occupies in Gaza.
His West Bank agenda includes annexing approximately 82% of the territory, under a proposal presented in September 2025. That would leave Palestinians in fragmented areas rather than a territorially connected state.
Under this strategy, the primary stated goal is to permanently eliminate the possibility of an independent Palestinian state.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power, another far-right coalition partner, received eight projected seats.
At a September campaign news conference, Ben-Gvir presented a plan to displace 1.86 million Palestinians from Gaza over seven years under what he calls “voluntary emigration.”
Ben-Gvir advocates restoring Israeli settlements in Gaza rather than Palestinian self-government.
He has also defended extreme measures such as reducing food for Palestinian detainees.
In August 2026, he called for Israeli forces to kill “30 to 40” people in Gaza every night, while declaring that “all of Gaza” belonged to Israel.
Former military chief Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar led the poll with 20 projected seats, making him a leading contender to head an opposition government.
Speaking near Gaza on Thursday, Eisenkot pledged to end Hamas’s rule within 18 months of becoming prime minister, either through US President Donald Trump’s framework or military action, leaving open the prospect of further Israeli military operations in the enclave.
Eisenkot told a Channel 7 podcast on Oct. 11 that “the principle of two states for two peoples is a mistake,” rejecting the two-state solution.
He also opposes incorporating millions of Palestinians into Israel, saying he wants to preserve a strong Jewish majority.
Former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid’s Together alliance received 12 projected seats and could emerge as a key partner in an opposition coalition. Despite differences over Gaza’s future, both have opposed Palestinian statehood in the near term.
Bennett rejects Palestinian statehood and has called for continued Israeli military operation in Gaza until Hamas is disarmed.
Although Lapid has expressed support for a two-state solution in the longer term and occupier settler violence, he has not committed to reversing settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.
Bennett, meanwhile, supports settlement expansion, which further entrenches Israeli control over Palestinian land and undermines prospects for an independent Palestinian state.
Avigdor Lieberman’s secular nationalist Yisrael Beytenu received nine projected seats and joined the opposition campaign pact.
Lieberman proposes dismantling the Palestinian Authority and canceling the Oslo agreements, replacing Palestinian self-rule in Areas A and B of the occupied West Bank with Jordanian administration while Israel retains control over Area C, which accounts for around 60% of the territory.
He openly presents the proposal as a way to prevent an internationally recognized Palestinian state, denying Palestinians a sovereign future while preserving Israeli control over much of the occupied territory.
For Gaza, Lieberman has advocated cutting off water, electricity and fuel supplies while backing continued Israeli military operations.
Ofer Winter’s new Amcha Israel received four projected seats. It opposes Palestinian statehood and promotes Palestinian displacement from Gaza. A potential Netanyahu partner, it also supports ultra-Orthodox enlistment, creating possible friction with his religious allies.
Those allies, United Torah Judaism and Shas, received eight and seven seats respectively. Their priorities center on religious institutions and military-service exemptions.
Shas supports dismantling Hamas and demilitarizing Gaza while opposing indefinite Israeli control. United Torah Judaism has no comparably detailed independent Gaza policy, according to the Jerusalem Post.
The poll also gives four seats to the separate Reservists list led by Yoaz Hendel and Yaron Zelekha, adding another potential factor in coalition negotiations.
The Joint List received nine projected seats and Ra’am six. Their votes could be decisive, but Netanyahu and leading opposition figures reject governing partnerships with Arab-led parties.
Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas has called for recognition of an independent Palestinian state and an end to occupation. His party previously joined the Bennett-Lapid government in 2021.
Joint List leader Yousef Jabareen has made progress toward Palestinian statehood a condition for negotiating support for a new government.
Their demands also challenge continued Israeli control of Palestinian territory. In its July 2024 advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice found Israel’s continued presence unlawful and said it must end new settlement activity and evacuate settlers.
news_share_descriptionsubscription_contact
contact_the_ombudsman
is_there_an_error_in_this_story
