Bonus Episode: Previewing Israel’s First Post-October 7 Election
Israel is preparing to hold what may be its most consequential election in decades. On October 27, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will face his first electoral test since October 7, 2023. In this bonus episode of Middle East Focus, we present the audio from a recent MEI webinar, hosted in Israel on the eve of the vote. Senior Fellow Natan Sachs is joined by Dr. Shira Efron, Distinguished Chair for Israel Policy and senior fellow at the RAND Corporation, and Neri Zilber, veteran journalist and Financial Times correspondent. They explore what’s at stake in this historic election and how different outcomes could reshape Israel’s domestic politics and the wider region.
Israel Was Built on Hope. This Election May Be Our Last Chance to Save It
Israel’s national anthem, Hatikva, means “the hope.” Israel is not just another country, but the culmination of a 2,000-year-old dream of national redemption. The rebirth of the Jewish people’s ancestral homeland, just three years after the Holocaust, was a miraculous triumph of hope over all odds.
Today, that hope has been shattered and the elections on October 27 have become the most consequential in Israel’s history.
One striking thing about US President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this past week is how isolated he was in making this call. The Israeli Prime Minister has become a widely detested figure worldwide following Israel’s war in Gaza—where Israel committed war crimes. This disdain was clearly on display in New York in September when dozens of diplomats streamed out of the hall during Netanyahu’s speech.
Since 1967, Israeli settlements in the West Bank have been a contested feature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The ultimate disposition of the settlements and ongoing activity related to their growth have repeatedly defied agreement in negotiations over a resolution to the conflict.
The Houthis are a political-military faction and Zaydi religious movement founded in northwestern Yemen in the 1980s. A key member of Iran’s Axis of Resistance with links to other militant organizations in the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, the group has continued to pose a threat to Western interests on a global scale.
The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) is a proposed multinational infrastructure initiative aimed at upgrading connectivity between the three regions through integrated trade, energy, and digital networks. Announced at the G20 summit in New Delhi in September 2023, IMEC is envisioned partially as a counterweight to China’s international infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative.
After a decade of post-Arab Spring isolation, Turkey’s leaders have recognized that their ambition to position the country as an agenda-setter on the world stage requires active engagement in all directions. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s consolidation of executive authority has centralized foreign policy decision-making and tied it to his domestic political priorities, transforming the country’s revisionist approach to one shaped primarily by personal and pragmatic interests.
MEI Senior Fellow Brian Katulis engages friends, colleagues, and policy experts in casual conversations on the most important happenings in the Middle East.
Reformist Politician Who Questioned Iran’s Syria Policy Barred from Campaigning
Hardliners in Iran are continuing to punish Gholamhossein Karbaschi, a reformist politician backing President Hassan Rouhani, for his last week speech in which he questioned the Islamic Republic’s military role in Syria. In the latest incident, a pro-regime vigilante group forced the former mayor of Tehran to cancel a campaign rally in Semnan Province.
Iraqi Vice President Reveals Iran’s Influence in Iraq through Proxies
Iraqi Vice President Ayad Allawi has revealed that a leader of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.) has traveled to Iran to discuss the issue of internally displaced people of the strategic town of Jurf Al Sakhar near Baghdad.
If President Trump travels to Riyadh later this month, as reported, he will find that the six leaders of the Gulf Coordination Council (GCC) countries hold widely divergent views on Iran, the extent of the Iranian threat, and how to resolve the conflict in Yemen.
I.R.G.C. Says Will Continue Deploying Its Officers to Syria to Support Assad and anti-Israel “Resistance Front”
The chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) Ground Force has said that he will continue to deploy “military advisers” to defend the government of Bashar al-Assad and the “resistance front” against Israel. “A war has multiple dimensions. The most important one is the ground part.
Iran’s Arms Production Capacity Has Reportedly Seen 100-Fold Increase under Rouhani
The Iranian defense minister has announced that the country’s arms production capacity has seen a staggering 100-fold increase under the Rouhani administration,
Zarif Visits Pakistan for Security Talks after Gunmen Killed 10 Iranian Border Guards
Iran and Pakistan agreed Wednesday to work together to boost security along their shared border after Pakistan-based militants killed 10 Iranian border guards in the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan last week. A militant group called Jaish al-Adl claimed responsibility for the attack.
Authorities in Iran Threaten Afghan Migrants to Fight in Syria or Face Deportation
Iran’s security forces threaten Afghans living in Iran to go to Syria to “fight for Syrian President Bashar al Assad or be deported to Afghanistan,” according to a report the Pakistani Dawn newspaper.
The image of the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov steaming across the Mediterranean on its way to the Syrian shore became one of the symbols of Moscow’s military support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. When the aircraft carrier completed its mission in Syria in January this year and made a surprise port call in eastern Libya, analysts immediately suggested that Libya may become another country where Moscow will project its military power.
Senior Reformist Politician Faces Prosecution after Criticizing Iran’s Role in Regional Wars
A court in Iran’s Isfahan Province announced today that Gholam Hossein Karbaschi, a senior reformist politician, will be prosecuted for questioning the Islamic Republic’s policies and actions in the Syrian conflict.
Top Syrian Military Official in Tehran to Coordinate War Efforts
Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan held a meeting with lieutenant General Ali Abdullah Ayyoub, the chief of the general staff of the Syrian Army, in Tehran earlier today.
Abdul Jabar Qahraman, who recently resigned as the top official overseeing war efforts in Afghanistan’s volatile Helmand Province, has said that Iran facilitates contacts between Taliban leaders and Russian officials.
The oldest peer-reviewed publication dedicated to the study of the modern Middle East, MEI’s flagship journal covers politics, society, and culture in the region.
