Have Israelis Lost Faith in Netanyahu?
Five undecided Israeli voters spanning the political spectrum were asked why Israelis don't support Netanyahu. Their answers were remarkably unified for a diverse group as this.
He has dominated Israeli politics for the better part of three decades. For much of the world, Benjamin Netanyahu is not merely a prime minister but a permanent fixture of the Israeli landscape: the man who stood before the United Nations with bomb cartoons depicting the Iranian nuclear threat, who forged the Abraham Accords, who made Israel’s voice heard in Washington even when American presidents would rather not have listened. Yet inside Israel, as elections approach, a very different conversation is taking place.
In a candid panel discussion on the Inspiration from Zion podcast, five undecided Israeli voters ranging across the political spectrum were asked directly: why aren’t Israelis simply lining up behind Netanyahu again? The answers were pointed, personal, and remarkably unified across an otherwise varied group.
“In 20 years, he has not groomed a successor”
The most consistent charge was not about corruption or ideology but something more elemental: Netanyahu’s deliberate suppression of anyone who might someday replace him.
“The biggest issue with Netanyahu is that in 20 years, he has not groomed a successor. There are people who have risen to be his number two, and each time he just slaps them away, moves them away, or they have left in disgust.” - Arnie Draiman, Jerusalem-based nonprofit consultant
Draiman noted that Netanyahu could have stepped back on a high note following the Abraham Accords, allowing a chosen successor to carry his legacy forward while continuing to advise from behind the scenes. Instead, he stayed, and in doing so hollowed out much of the political talent around him. The irony is stark: many leaders currently heading opposition parties are former Likud insiders and Netanyahu confidants, driven away by Netanyahu himself.
“This is not a monarchy”
Batya Medad, who has lived in Shiloh for over four decades, framed the problem historically, pointing to Franklin Roosevelt, elected to four terms and dead in office. Americans, she argued, kept reelecting a man who was visibly failing because they were too frightened of change. The lesson, she said, applies directly to Israel today.
“It is not healthy for a people or a government of citizens to think only one person can be the prime minister. The government and the country have to be stronger than one person. This is not a monarchy.” - Batya Medad
“It frightens me when I hear people say they cannot imagine anyone else, because it means they will overlook problems.”
“He forgot about what made him great”
Erica Schachne, editor of the Jerusalem Post Magazine, offered perhaps the most personal assessment. She acknowledged that Netanyahu once genuinely captured the Israeli public’s imagination and accomplished real things. But she argued that era has decisively ended.
“I think the Israeli people are very disappointed in him. He captured the imagination, and now he has kind of devolved. He forgot about what made him great, he has lost touch, and it is time to let some new light in.” - Erica Schachne
Schachne also pointed to what she called “the death of shame,” a broader collapse of political accountability she traces back to the top. “He is too preoccupied with keeping himself in power. That is the lifeblood of this country now.” She described a government in which nobody takes responsibility for anything, adding bluntly: “The ministers don’t minister. It does feel sometimes like the government doesn’t work.”
“Who isn’t part of the problem?”
For Yehuda Poch, who has worked at the Bank of Israel for 13 years, the decisive issue is accountability for October 7.
“I have to give serious consideration to not voting for anybody who is in a position of responsibility for October 7. Anybody who was in the defense establishment before October 7, going back 10 years, is part of the problem.” - Yehuda Poch
Poch noted this rules out not only Netanyahu but several figures he otherwise deeply respects, including Benny Gantz, whom he described as “the biggest mensch in the entire Knesset.” The painful conclusion he reached: Israel’s political class is so entangled in the failures that produced October 7 that voters are left with almost no one to turn to. “Netanyahu for sure is part of the problem. The question then becomes: who isn’t?”
“Every time there is a crisis, it feels like Israel is being led by no leaders”
Marc Simanowitz, a PhD candidate in genetics at Hebrew University, focused on a pattern he observed across two major crises: COVID and the war that followed October 7.
“Every time there is a crisis, it feels like Israel is being led by no leaders. He is not there.” - Marc Simanowitz
Simanowitz also noted that Likud itself has become a problem for right-leaning voters. “Even if you are on the right, you have better alternatives. The Likud party under Netanyahu does not look that appealing to the average young Israeli.”
The uncomfortable truth nobody wants to say out loud
While agreeing that Netanyahu needs to go, a perspective many Israelis share and about which much of the voting will be reflected in October, the panelists also agreed on something else: at his best, Netanyahu was one of Israel’s greatest prime ministers. They then converged on an uncomfortable reality. His continued political viability rests not on his record but on the fracturing of everyone around him.
“It is the fractures between those parties that give him the power to stay in power. He is maybe one of the only guys who really knows how to play that game.” - Yehuda Poch
“It is a cult of personality, and there is nothing we can do about it. So there is a very good chance Bibi is going to win again.” - Erica Schachne
Perhaps the most telling moment of the entire conversation was the simplest one: for the first half hour, the panel barely mentioned Netanyahu’s name. They were too busy talking about the economy, the education system, the cost of living, the ultra-Orthodox, and the collapse of political integrity. Those are the issues Israelis care about. They are not the issues Netanyahu’s political survival has been organized around.
None of the panelists are prepared to vote for him. None are willing to count him out either.
Follow the entire conversation
Register to join the upcoming conversation live on “Inspiration from Zion” June 17, at 8:00pm Israel time, 1:00pm Eastern time (US).