Israelis vote for the country’s neshama

To call this election consequential would be an understatement. This election is more than a decision of choice for the next government of Israel; it is a battle for the country’s soul. 

On Saturday night, more than an estimated 100 000 people gathered in Tel Aviv to rally for change. The familiar scene of bereaved families, imploring Israelis to remember the victims of the atrocities of 7 October, is a reminder of what Israelis have endured over the past three years. It is also a reminder of the failure of the coalition government to take responsibility for the climate leading up to the atrocities. One of the key platform points for several parties is the establishment of a national commission of inquiry. 

October 7 remains front and centre in the Israeli psyche. The atrocities and circumstances around that Black Shabbat inform much of our identity and how we approached this election. Israelis want accountability for the failures. 

Israelis are battle hardened and war fatigued and after these last years, beset by turmoil including before 7 October, we are auditing our national value system. 

While no bloc and candidate has the clear majority of 61, former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief Gadi Eisenkot has led in the polls, ahead of the incumbent, Benjamin Netanyahu. Polymarket polls have him as the most likely to be prime minister. But polls and reality tell different stories and the results coming in have been far from what pundits predicted. The big shock for many is the gaining of many seats by Arab parties. This will be key when forming coalitions or moving towards a national unity government. This is Israeli democracy in action: never dull and always unpredictable. 

Netanyahu has headed a government that many believe has been the worst in Israel’s history, with policies that border on the catastrophic. The Israeli electorate approached the election acutely aware that we are now an Israel maligned by many. Misunderstood – yet maligned. 

Netanyahu, who has survived scandals and controversies in the past and is often considered to be one of the greatest orators in the world, has failed to effectively communicate Israel’s narrative in the wake of 7 October, preferring instead to build his persona as a “wartime prime minister”. “Total Victory” has been his clarion call and while Israel’s astounding military victories under his leadership must be noted, the buck stops with the big guy in charge – and he has yet to take responsibility. 

Eisenkot has paid an enormous personal price, losing his son and two nephews in combat in Gaza. Where Eisenkot may lack the polish and oratory skills of Bibi, his story is one of Israeli achievement. Born in Tiberius to a poor Mizrahi family, he rose through the ranks of the IDF to become chief of staff. Should he win, he would make history as Israel’s first Mizrahi prime minister. 

It is no surprise that voter turnout was the highest in decades. The turnout was at a 53-year high, including the surprising number of Arab voters, fed up with the policies of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. 

It wasn’t just local Israelis exercising their civic duty. An estimated 70 000 flew in, including Wonder Woman Gal Gadot. “That’s it, I’m exercising my right to vote, and I ask all of you to go out and exercise your most basic, most important, the most democratic right, and to vote for who you believe in,” said Gadot in a recording of herself at the polling booth. 

“I’m voting for change, and I hope that today, Tuesday, pa’amayim ki tov [Tuesdays are traditionally viewed in Jewish culture as a lucky day], that it will only be good for us all,” she said, blowing a kiss at the camera. 

I have voted in a number of elections since making aliya in 2010. The thrill of exercising my civic duty in the nation state of the Jewish people is an enormous privilege that fills me with pride. It is also a democratic responsibility, one that cannot be taken lightly. We carry generations who dreamed of being a free people in our own land. More so, in post-7 October Israel. 

Decisions about who to vote for cannot be taken lightly. October 7 changed our DNA as a nation. We have paid a massive price for fighting for our freedom and survival. 

May whoever leads the next government be worthy of our history. May they be worthy of the fallen, the murdered, and the bereaved. May they be worthy of us all. 

• Rolene Marks is a Middle East commentator often heard on radio and TV and is the co-founder of Lay of the Land and the SA-Israel Policy Forum.