One in five Israeli campaigns label their vote as the most fateful in history

Danny Kushmaro’s nightly election segments open with the same phrase: these are the most fateful elections in Israel’s history. The analyst notes that this specific rhetoric has become a standard refrain for the current campaign, a repetition that warrants scrutiny rather than acceptance. His research indicates that one in five Israeli campaigns in recent decades have claimed their specific vote was the most important ever. This statistic suggests that the current high stakes are part of a recurring cycle rather than a unique historical moment.

Kushmaro argues against the instinct to romanticize previous eras or assume the current vote carries more weight than its predecessors. He posits that treating the 2026 election as uniquely existential transforms standard political competition into an existential war. When the battle between pro-Netanyahu and anti-Netanyahu blocs is framed as a matter of survival, defeat is no longer viewed as a correctable setback. Instead, it sounds like an event the country cannot withstand, making it harder for the losing side to accept the outcome.

This dynamic became visible after Naftali Bennett formed his government in 2021. The administration struggled not only with governance but with the question of whether the losing side would grant the new government a chance to function. Before the new cabinet was even sworn in, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu labeled the formation of the Bennett government as the greatest election fraud in history. While Netanyahu referred to broken campaign promises rather than stolen ballots, the message cast a legitimately formed government as fraudulent and illegitimate.

The opposition worked to dismantle the Bennett administration immediately. The Knesset became the primary arena, where the coalition’s slim majority made every vote consequential. In recordings published in May 2022, Likud MK Miri Regev defended voting against legislation that benefited soldiers and vulnerable groups. She stated that the overriding objective was to topple the coalition, a strategy that prioritized survival over policy.

When Netanyahu won the 2022 election and formed a hard-right government, the political dynamics reversed. Yair Lapid conceded the election and arranged an orderly handover. However, as opposition to the judicial overhaul brought masses into the streets, the language of illegitimacy returned. In April 2023, former Shin Bet director Yuval Diskin addressed a massive demonstration in Tel Aviv. He acknowledged that the government had been elected legally but called it morally illegitimate due to its appalling composition and reprehensible actions.