Israeli parliamentary elections are being held on Tuesday, the first since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack and Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently embroiled in a corruption scandal in Israel, is up for reelection. On Friday, after two Israeli soldiers were killed at a checkpoint near Hebron, just days before Israeli polls are set to open, Netanyahu announced heavy restrictions on the movement of Palestinians out of the West Bank. Since then, Israeli forces have detained and expelled thousands of Palestinian residents from the area and begun home demolitions to clear the way for future Israeli settlements.
“The reason that they’re doing this is because this entire election is about who is going to be tougher on Palestinians,” says Palestinian human rights lawyer Diana Buttu. “What [Netanyahu is] trying to do in the lead-up to this is say to Israelis that ’I’m the only person who can provide you with security.’ So, while lighting the place on fire, he’s also selling water.” Buttu explains that Netanyahu’s opponents across the Israeli political spectrum are equally punitive toward Palestinians. “The fact that you have all of these parties that are advocating major war crimes and nobody is blinking says something very deep about Israeli society, but also about an international community that has fostered this and that has allowed this to brew for all of these years.”