Why does Israel's opposition refuse to talk about a Palestinian state or the Arab parties?

Rory Stewart says the Israeli electorate has moved so far that only about a quarter of Jewish voters back a Palestinian state, outnumbered by a third who want full annexation. Netanyahu's main slogan offers voters the right or Palestine, so the opposition led by Gadi Eisenkot, Yair Lapid, Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman avoids both two-state talk and any pact with the Arab parties, which could win about 15 seats.

• Analyst Gil Hoffman, cited by Stewart, calls it an election defined by animosity toward Netanyahu, the Arabs and the ultra-Orthodox.
• Alastair Campbell wonders whether the opposition would quietly deal with an Arab party if the numbers forced it.

▸In their words

“Perhaps only a quarter of Jewish Israeli voters now support the idea of a Palestinian state.” Rory Stewart · at 11:53 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on The Rest Is Politics (2026-10-21). Read the whole episode summary →

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