TEL AVIV, October 27 (HS/RIA Novosti) - The Israeli society has developed a consistent demand for a leader from the right-wing political spectrum, someone who will continue to pursue a hardline security policy, prominent Israeli political scientist and professor at Bar-Ilan University, Ze’ev Khanin, told RIA Novosti.

A reality has taken shape in Israel where only a representative of the right-wing parties can lead the government. The overwhelming majority of the population today is right-leaning. Society is no longer prepared to accept the kinds of decisions that, in the past, led to the Second Intifada [the Palestinian uprising of the 2000s], the unilateral disengagement [the 2005 withdrawal of Israeli troops and settlements from Gaza], waves of terror, and, ultimately, to October 7, 2023 [when Israel was subjected to a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip], Khanin said.

According to the political scientist, the central question in the medium term concerns the direction in which Israel is heading regarding the very nature of its statehood.

The question is whether the country will be governed by right-wing liberals or right-wing populists — that is, whether it will be a national Jewish state or an ultra-religious Jewish state, he noted.

Khanin added that all of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main rivals were campaigning on the premise that Israel's adversaries have yet to be decisively defeated — whether in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, or Iran.

Opposition politicians state that this work must be completed. In practice, much will depend on whether the next government succeeds in building a functional, constructive relationship with the US and mending ties with Europe, the expert explained.

Elections to the Knesset (parliament) in Israel will take place on Tuesday, and the next government is expected to be formed based on their outcome. The primary opposition candidates for the post of prime minister include head of the centrist Yashar party Gadi Eizenkot, leader of the Be-Yachad bloc and former prime minister Naftali Bennett, and Avigdor Liberman, the chairman of the Yisrael Beiteinu (Our Home Israel) party. All of these candidates belong, in one way or another, to the center-right camp. Recent polls indicate that neither the ruling coalition nor the united opposition is likely to secure the necessary parliamentary majority, which increases the possibility of a scenario involving an interim government and snap elections.

Israel's current government, led by Netanyahu, was formed at the end of 2022. Netanyahu first became Israel’s prime minister in 1996. Since then, he has held the office three times and formed a government on six separate occasions. In total, Netanyahu has led the Jewish state for more than 18 years — longer than any other Israeli politician since the country declared independence in 1948.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar