Column: New Jewish Narrative
Where is this Knesset election heading?
Sept 28, 2026
Q. The five Knesset opposition party leaders from the left, center and center-right met last Saturday night, one month before October 27 elections, and pledged not to campaign against one another in a cooperative effort to depose Netanyahu. Their chances?
A. As matters stand, their chances are no better than even. Neither this “Change Bloc” nor the Netanyahu camp is likely to end up with a workable majority.
Conceivably, though, a workable plurality, meaning that the election outcome may enable Mssrs Eizenkot, Bennett, Lapid, Liberman and Golan to form a minority coalition. Then too, they may be able to force a repeat election. On the other hand Netanyahu, without an electoral Knesset majority, may succeed in buying off a few of the rightists in the anti-Netanyahu coalition in order to reach a majority. He may hope to lead a transition government pending repeat elections. He has been there before and come out on top.
The latest polls consistently show the anti-Netanyahu camp with around 54 mandates. This is nowhere near the Knesset majority of 61 they could aspire to a month ago. But only a miracle will raise their fortunes to 61 mandates.
One thing is certain. If the five Change Bloc parties ignore their own Saturday pledge and campaign against one another, they will all lose.
Yossi Alpher's Death Tango: Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat and Three Fateful Days in March
"Anyone seeking to understand how Israelis and Palestinians traded the hopes of Oslo for something approaching hopelessness is well-advised to read this book. With penetrating analysis and elegant prose, Yossi Alpher has told the gripping story of three days nearly two decades ago that continue to haunt would-be peacemakers. Yossi’s faithful readers will not be disappointed with his latest effort."
Ambassador Frederic C. Hof, Bard College
"A riveting account of the crucial days in March 2002 when the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was profoundly changed for the worse. The peace camp has never recovered from those wrenching days, and we live now without any hope of a just settlement. Alpher is a highly respected expert who has spent decades studying this conflict from both sides."
Bruce Riedel, Director of the Brookings Intelligence Project
"A critical assessment of a key period in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict never before presented in such detail. The best and most capable players at the executive and political levels proved unable to forge any resolution, final or partial, because both parties continued to maintain an insurmountable gulf between themselves. This is a MUST read for anyone daring to tackle the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and of Israel-Arab relations in general."
Efraim Halevy, former Head of the Mossad (1998-2002)
Oraib Khader and Avi Bar-On are youngish Palestinian and Israeli bachelors with security experience, readiness to do business with one another, a shared fondness for women and money, and total cynicism about the lack of peace between their two peoples.
Oraib and Avi can never become true friends: the cultural and political gaps are too wide. But as they confront a failed peace process and a bleak peace future, they readily become business partners: shady business that exploits a lot of naïve international peace aspirations.
As Oraib sums up on a visit to Sarpsborg, Norway, where the ultimately-failed Oslo peace talks were held, “There is a lesson here for those who still doggedly and hopelessly pursue a two-state solution in the Middle East. Get smart. Get out of the Israeli-Palestinian peace business. Step back and let the Jews and Arabs screw one another while making money.”