Israel is gearing up for an election at the end of October. And, with the Likud party of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, trailing in the polls, his government is pushing through measures which aim to dramatically expand Israeli control over Palestinian land on the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The October 27 poll will be the first since Hamas’s October 2023 attack, the bloodiest assault on Israel since its creation, and the devastating war on Gaza that followed. It appears that with the failure of the war in Iran to achieve its strategic objectives, and amid continuing instability in Lebanon, Netanyahu’s government believe that territorial expansion will be one of its strongest electoral assets.
