An official date of October 27 has been set for Israel’s crucial parliamentary election. While the current governing coalition is set to become the first in decades to complete a full four-year term, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s electoral fortunes appear dim. Haaretz columnist Joshua Leifer joined The Debrief today for a fascinating discussion of the current state of Israeli electoral politics.
The topics we discussed included:
Netanyahu as the continuing focus of the election: With multiple wars raging and the traumas of October 7th ongoing, rival camps are defined by their pro-Bibi and anti-Bibi positioning
The surge by former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and his Yashar party: Josh shared insights regarding Eisenkot’s non-charismatic populist appeal, his Mizrahi background and roots in Israel’s “periphery,” and his personal losses during the Gaza war
Arab parties: Why the four parties led by Palestinian citizens of Israel have not consolidated into a Joint List and what the electoral repercussions might be
A Place for Us All: The new political party launched by leaders of the Standing Together movement and what impact it could have on the election
Haredi draft: The rage in the ultra-Orthodox sector over the failure of the Netanyahu government to facilitate an exemption for men engaged in Torah study has created a major rift in the pro-Bibi camp
Trump factor: Trump loves a winner and right now, Netanyahu isn’t looking like one. Will Trump operatives go so far as to make public overtures to the anti-Bibi camp?
Election integrity and avoiding a January 6 redux: How the Netanyahu government may try to intimidate Arab voters and what can be done to ensure a fair election and peaceful transfer of power
Josh and I covered a lot of ground! As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts. What Israeli election-related topics would you like to see covered on future Debrief podcasts?
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Coming Up!
TONIGHT at around 8pm Eastern:
I’ll go live on TRT World News to discuss the latest escalation in the US-Israeli war against Iran.
TOMORROW (Tues, July 14) at 11am Eastern:
Andrew Miller on US aid to Israel and Resetting the US-Israel Relationship
Andrew Miller served as deputy assistant secretary of state for Israeli-Palestinian affairs from 2022 to 2024. Prior to that, he served as a senior policy adviser to US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield. During the Obama Administration, Andrew served as the director for Egypt and Israel military issues on President Barack Obama’s National Security Council and was involved in deliberations regarding US security assistance to Egypt and Israel and regarding Middle East peace. He is currently a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress.
Thursday, July 16, at 12:30pm Eastern:
Rabbis Amelia Wolf & Andy Kahn on The Next Generation of American Rabbis
For some time, I’ve been wanting to do a podcast on the future of the US rabbinate. The Atra Center for Rabbinic Innovation released a study in late 2025 that included some findings that surprised me — and made me want to learn more. Among them were the demographics of current rabbinical students, only 30% of whom identify as men, while 58% identify as women and 12% as nonbinary. Further, 51% identify as LGBTQ, a huge jump from 15% among rabbis ordained 10-20 years ago. Last but not least, 16% of rabbinical students converted to Judaism and 12% identify as a race other than white.
To discuss that and what implications it might have, as well as the topic of where the next generation of American rabbis stands on Israel-Palestine, I’ll welcome Rabbi Amelia Wolf of Congregation Etz Hayim in Arlington, Virginia and Rabbi Andy Kahn of the American Council for Judaism to The Debrief.
Thanks for watching, reading, and supporting.
Warm regards,
Debra
