Arabic version: ظلال 7 أكتوبر تخيّم على الانتخابات الإسرائيلية المقبلة
According to Al Jazeera, the approaching third anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack is expected to be central to Israel’s election in late October. The assault killed 1,139 Israelis and resulted in about 250 people being taken captive. Its memory continues to shape how Israelis view their place in the Middle East after wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces continuing criticism over his government’s actions before the attack and its failure to establish an independent inquiry into those failings. Similar inquiries have focused on the army and intelligence services. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has accused Netanyahu of ignoring warnings about Hamas, relying on a doctrine that assumed the group had been deterred, and failing to ensure adequate preparation. Former Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot has made an independent inquiry a central part of his party’s electoral platform.
Netanyahu has said senior defence officials did not wake him after they observed suspicious activity in Gaza before the attack. He said he would have ordered the military to be placed on alert. His wife, Sara Netanyahu, cited opposition leader Yair Golan’s response on October 7, when he drove to the site, as apparent evidence that Golan knew of Hamas’s plans. Neve Gordon of Queen Mary University of London said the claims were adding to conspiracies already circulating and were intended to confuse voters and reinforce the prime minister’s base.
The election comes as Netanyahu is on trial for corruption, and a loss could make it harder for him to avoid prison. Academics cited by Al Jazeera said October 7 remains a defining national trauma and that Israeli media coverage has repeatedly focused on the day’s events. Lev Grinberg of Ben Gurion University said the attack was interpreted as a new Holocaust and that Palestinian suffering was not adequately recognised. Ayala Panievsky said the horrors that followed in Gaza had not entered Israel’s public conversation around the election.
