What changed
Israel’s far right is finding unusually strong support among first-time voters ahead of next week’s general election.
More than half a million young Israelis are expected to vote. One poll put support for far-right parties above 16% among them, while another found almost three-quarters identify as right or centre-right.
Why it matters
That makes young voters more than a footnote in a tight election. Their turnout and choices could help determine how much influence Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich retain inside Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition.
For some supporters, the appeal is straightforward: Ben-Gvir represents strength and security. Several young voters interviewed linked their politics to the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023 and the Gaza war. Their view is that the attack settled the question of whether peace is possible.
This is not simply an age effect. The shift also reflects how a generation has been formed by fear, military service and a sharper sense of national identity. Ben-Gvir’s positions include annexing the occupied West Bank, settling Gaza with Jewish communities and promoting the “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians. Those ideas are condemned by liberal Israelis, but they no longer sit outside government. Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are already powerful ministers.
The election’s key uncertainty is whether the polling translates into turnout and seats. If it does, positions once treated as politically extreme could gain another measure of authority at the centre of Israeli government.
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