Israel’s first election since 7 October produced no winner. Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud stayed the largest party, but his bloc fell to 53 seats. Gadi Eisenkot’s opposition took 48, and Arab parties won a record 19 on historic turnout. A week later, Democrats swept both houses of the US Congress.
In this episode of Jerusalem Unplugged, I talk with Gilad Halpern, journalist, media historian and host of The Tel Aviv Review, about what happened and what comes next. We discuss the surge in Arab participation, President Herzog’s coalition consultations, and the paths to a government: an Eisenkot coalition, a unity deal with Netanyahu, or yet another election. We also ask what a Democratic Congress means for Israel, and how the two elections a week apart mirror each other.
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